


The Promise of Living

by TheBeckster



Category: Jak and Daxter
Genre: F/M, Gen, My First Fanfic, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, copied over as-is, please don't read this, this was moved only for safekeeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-08
Updated: 2008-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24139846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBeckster/pseuds/TheBeckster
Summary: Summary: A mysterious child is brought into the ER with the worst possible thing, Eco Poisoning. R&R Please-----Originally posted on fanfiction.net from 10/8/2008 to 6/18/2011. Copied over as-is 5/12/2020.
Relationships: Keira Hagai/Jak





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, here is goes, my first Fanfic. basically I thought up this scenario as I was waiting to fall asleep (I come up with the craziest stuff) it was just a picture of Keira crying onto Jaks shoulder in a dark hospital room with someone on the bed. I started typing it out as an IM to my friend when I was bored and decided to stick with it and keep it going. Please tell me what you think. Thanks!
> 
> Please review... I really would like to know what people think of my writing, even if you think its terrible.
> 
> I don't own anything related to Jak and Daxter, I just made up the plot.
> 
> -The Beckster

Lucie sat down in the break room and closed her tired eyes.

"Oh, Precursors… what a crazy two weeks this has been." She said out loud to no one rubbing her tired eyes. She slowly got up and grabbed a cup of hot coffee. She sat back down "Oh where did this crazy train ride begin?"

* * *

The end of Lucie's shift was approaching that afternoon. _Just a couple more hours_ she thought wistfully. Suddenly her pager beeped at her. There was an urgent message from the ER front desk from an emergency team out in the city. "Eco Poisoning" was the short message. It was short, but it said enough.

Eco Poisoning is gruesome from the beginning of its short cycle. It attacks the body's systems, shutting them down, stopping vital organs and tissues from doing their job correctly, and the victim dies quickly and painfully. They're the lucky ones; the ones that survive are forced to spend the rest of their lives in agony and torment.

Eco poisoning messes with the brain, it makes the victims see things. They see helpers as their personal tormentors, and the rest of their short lives are a living hell. They are hooked up to so many machines regulating their body because their brain can't anymore. They wish to die, and usually end up committing suicide or begging to be euthanized. However, there is one in a million whose body can eventually absorb the eco after a while, they still live in torment for a while, but once the eco is fully stored in the body, they live normal lives, only noticing the affects of the eco under great stress. They can't control it, and it can't be stopped.

Eco poisoning always affected adults. Whether it was an unfortunate worker who had spent far too long in the eco mines or the eco processing plants; or a complete idiot messing with something they shouldn't even have access to. Pure eco is the worst to come in contact with. The body can handle small amounts of diluted eco, of course or Green Eco wouldn't be useable for medicine, but highly concentrated or pure eco does not agree with a person.

However, for Lucie and the hospital staff, this was no usual case of eco poisoning.

Lucie was ready when the emergency team arrived. She walked to the gurney quickly to start the operations, but she faltered. This wasn't a miner or plant worker. This wasn't an idiot off of the street either. Hell this wasn't even an adult. It was a child. A young, small boy. _He can't be more than four!_ Lucie thought despairingly. Never in all of her years and her experiences with eco poisoning had Lucie ever encountered a small child.

Lucie set to work quickly. She checked the boy's unseeing eyes and her hopes fell. The boy's usual bright blue eyes were tinged black and purple. _Shit_ Lucie thought _Dark Eco Poisoning…_

"Hurry! We've got to try and save him!" Lucie said to the rest of her medical team and they quickly set to work on the child. She _had_ to save him ... She had to _try_ …

Four hours of intense surgery later, the boy was stable. Stable enough. Lucie left the scrub room and headed for the ER desk. _Oh that poor child._ Lucie thought _I'm doubtful he will survive the night. I hope his parents are here._ Lucie's thoughts took a turn _His parents! What kind of parent would even THINK of having concentrated eco anywhere near their children?_ She thought angrily _But what if it wasn't his parent's fault? What if the boy wandered off into the streets and some sick person thought it would be a good idea to give a small child some funny glowing eco. But Dark Eco….?_ Lucie knew Dark Eco was strictly monitored in Haven, but there was always black market trade or eco from outside cities.

"Janice." She called out to the head nurse at the front desk, who happened to be her close friend. She walked closer and lowered her voice "Did anyone come in asking about that little boy with eco poisoning? Anyone claiming to be his parents or a relative?"

Janice shook her head. "No. Surprisingly nobody came in. There hasn't even been a missing child report filed."

Lucie felt sadness and anger run though her. She knew somebody should be there with the boy. Even if he was in a drug induced coma.

"However…" Janice said flipping through some charts "The emergency team brought a woman in shortly after the boy was brought in. They didn't get any information out of her. And they had to leave for something else before we could even ask them where they got her." Janice shook her head. "I'm telling you those paramedics will do anything to get out of too much paper work." She laughed and Lucie laughed along half heartedly.

"I think I'll go check on her. See if she might have any connection to the boy." Lucie turned to walk away but stopped and turned back "Has anyone been in to see them lately?"

Janice shrugged "Probably not. It's been a busy day. Triage said she didn't have any massive injuries. They put her in a secluded room to let her sleep. She was in shock something awful and couldn't answer any questions. They left her to rest. It's been about four hours, I'm sure she can be ready to give us some information now. Oh. She's in room 21."

"Alright. Thanks Janice." Lucie turned and walked away. She looked at her charts, they were basically blank. _Let's see … female … pregnant … no bodily injury. Joy these are so full._ She though sarcastically. She grabbed a cup of coffee on her way and downed the energizing elixir in a few gulps.

Lucie heard voices coming from room 21. Well, a voice. And it wasn't happy. However the voice seemed to stop talking and Lucie could barely hear a faint answer. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door before opening it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 2. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

Lucie had about half a second to walk into the room before she was assaulted by a barrage of angry words from a clearly pissed off woman.

"Well it's about time! Do you know how long we have been waiting for someone to come? It's been four hours. Where has everyone been?"

Lucie closed her eyes for a second and thought Young people, so impatient! Before she looked up from her chart to confront the shouter, but her words caught in her throat. This wasn't just any woman off of the streets, this was Ashelin Praxis. The second most powerful person in Haven City, next to Mar. She was standing at her full height looking extremely domineering. Lucky for Lucie, she had dealt with worse in her career. Lucie squared her shoulders and stood at her full height, which unfortunately was much shorter than Ashelin.

"Commander Praxis, you may be the commander of Haven Guard and the second most powerful person in the city, but this is my hospital. I decide how it is run and who devotes their time where. Don't expect special treatment just because you're important. If there had been a real emergency a doctor would have been called in to take care of you. However everyone on the emergency medicine staff has had bigger problems to deal with. We spent the last four hours trying to save a little boy who got Dark Eco Poisoning. If you think that your comfort is more important than an innocent child's life then … then Precursors help you." Lucie stared into Ashelin's eyes and she smiled on the inside to see the proud commander knocked off of her high horse. "Now excuse me. I have a patient to attend to." She stepped around Ashelin and walked over to the bed. Lucie was thankful when she heard the door click softly behind her as Ashelin left the room.

The bed's occupant seemed much more peaceful compared to Ashelin. The woman was wearing a purple shirt which was stretched tight over her swollen stomach. She has to be close to the end of her term Lucie thought briefly before moving on to finish her initial inspection. The woman seemed completely calm emotionally, but aesthetically she was a mess. Her long blue-green hair was tangled and flying everywhere. She had scratches on her arms and on her face that looked like she had scratched herself with her fingernails. Her hands were also filthy; they seemed to be covered in dirt and oil as if she had been working on something mechanical.

"I'm sorry." She muttered "She shouldn't have yelled at you. She's just got a short temper."

"It's alright. I've dealt with worse." Lucie said as she pulled out a scanner and started running it over the woman slowly.

"So, what is your name? My charts are sadly lacking." She said as she continued scanning.

"Keira" the woman replied quietly.

"That's a nice name" Lucie said absently as she stopped to take a second scan over the baby. She put the scanner away satisfied that there was not any trauma to Keira or the baby.

"Well, nothing is wrong with you physically, but I need to ask you some questions." She said as she started to take Keira's blood pressure.

"Okay…" Keira said.

"Do you remember why you are here? Any emotionally devastating situations? Did someone try and attack you?"

Keira shook her head. "That's the strange thing I don't remember much. I remember I was out in the garage working on a broken zoomer. And then, everything just goes blank until I woke up here a few hours ago. I can't remember a single thing."

Lucie was afraid that was the case, partial amnesia often took over when someone did not want to remember something horrific. "I'm going to prick your finger for a blood test. But Keira can you try and remember what happened. Were you going to meet someone?"

Keira was silent for a minute while Lucie collected the blood from her finger. "Wait. I remember … I remember … looking for someone." She said hesitantly "And I think I remember screaming. But that's all I can remember."

"It's okay Keira, don't try and think about it too hard, just relax and let your mind wander. Maybe you'll stumble upon the answer. You never know what a stray thought can trigger. I'm going to take this blood to the lab. I'll be back in a few minutes." Lucie said reassuringly as she turned and walked out of the room.

Lucie walked down the hall quickly to the blood lab. "Hey guy's you busy?" she said stepping up to the counter.

"Nah, just Wilson running a simple test in the back. Need something? I'm itching to get out and do some blood drawing. It's been a slow day after you guys took a bunch of the blood for that boy a few hours back." The phlebotomist (people who work with blood) behind the counter said reaching for a kit.

"Calm down you blood thirsty vampire." Lucie said jokingly "No I just need you guys to analyze this and send the data back to me a.s.a.p." She said setting Keira's blood sample on the counter.

"Can do." she said taking the package. "Well get you the stats in about ten minutes."

"Great. Thanks." Lucie said already walking away from the counter. She stopped by the front desk.

"Anyone looking for the boy yet?" she asked anxiously.

"Sorry Lucie. Nothing yet. If we don't get anyone soon I may suggest we send up someone to sit there and be with him."

"It will do wonders for him even if he doesn't realize it in his coma." Lucie agreed. "Wait another hour and then send up an intern or someone." She turned and walked away. Lucie was anxious to get back to Keira and release her so she could focus her attention on the boy. He needed more help than Keira did at the moment. Lucie would send her home with a prescription of bed rest for a day or two.

Lucie knocked on the door again before entering the room again. Keira was still alone sitting up in the bed looking tired.

"Hello, doctor. Will I be able to go home soon?" she asked smiling faintly.

"I think so. As soon as we get your blood results back we'll know for sure. But I think you'll be fine as long as you promise to spend the next few days resting in bed. Do you have someone coming to take you home?"

"Yeah. He should be here soon."

As if on cue the door opened and in walked Ashelin, looking a little less pissed. Behind her followed a tall man with distinctive tattoos covering his face. Lucie recognized him as Torn, the other commander of the Haven Guard.

Behind Torn came in someone Lucie thought she would never see in hospital. It was Mar. The Mar. Anyone in the planet would have recognized him. Lucie put two and two together and her initial thought was DUH Lucie. She mentally smacker her forehead for being so concerned with the boy that she did not think enough to realize why Keira looked so familiar.

"Keira!" Mar said as he hurried over to the bed. The small orange creature on his shoulder barely kept his balance. Lucie recognized him too. It was Daxter, Mar's loyal companion through thick and thin.

"What happened?" Mar said worriedly "Ashelin told us that you were in the hospital. But she didn't elaborate. What happened?"

"I don't remember, Jak. I must have passed out or something because I don't remember how I got here."

Lucie stood back in the corner of the room reading the blood test results. They said that Keira was extremely anemic, more than a pregnant woman usually would be. Lucie decided she would do another scan before deciding on sending Keira home or keeping her here. She just hoped she could do it quickly and get back to working on the boy.

"How did Ashelin know that you were here though?" Jak asked "She was working at the barracks all day."

"I have my sources." Ashelin replied nonchalantly.

Jak shrugged and turned back to Keira. "Where is Ike? Did he stay with his babysitter?"

"Ike …" A look of pure terror crossed Keira's face before she broke down into hysterical sobs. Jak wrapped his arms around her protectively but clearly worried.

"Keira, shhhh. It's okay" he said soothingly. Daxter had leapt off of his shoulder and was patting Keira's arms reassuringly. "It's alright. Now tell me what happened to Ike."

Keira sobbed some more and shook her head. She lifted up her head and looked to Jak. "It- it- it's a-a-all m-m-m-my f-f-fault. Jak! It's Ike!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 3. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

"Ike?" Jak said confused he gently lifted Keira's chin so she would look at him, but she turned her head away and kept sobbing. "Keira, what's wrong with Ike? Where is he? What happened?"

Keira just shook her head and continued to cry. Unsure of what else to do Jak started gently stroking her hair. Torn, Ashelin, Daxter, and Lucie stood there watching silently waiting for someone to break the uncomfortable silence.

Suddenly Lucie's communicator went off. "Lucie, the boy's vitals have dropped. Get up here now!", she could hear the strain in the nurse's voice through the earpiece. Lucie hurried out of the room "Shit!" she muttered to herself as she ran down the hallway. A minute later she burst into the boy's room. Other doctors were already working on him. The dialysis tube that had the boy connected to the machine had fallen out and he was losing blood rapidly. Quickly they stopped the blood flow and started another dialysis, this time in the boy's thigh and they secured it there. They had to stitch the old wound closed instead of using green eco to heal the wound. They could not risk unbalancing the child's already unstable system with more eco.

An IV was started to give the boy blood. Now all the doctors could do was wait and pray the boy did not flat line and his vitals would even out again. A sigh of relief rippled through the room when the boy's heart beat stabilized again, and the other doctors and nurses left the room. Lucie was left alone and she was surprised to feel her eyes burn with tears. _Oh Precursors, please don't let him die. He doesn't deserve to go out like this. Please. Save this child. At lease keep him here until we can find his parents._ Lucie brushed away the tear that had fallen down her cheek and placed a gentle hand on the boy's head. She felt his cold and clammy forehead and she was surprised to feel pain shoot through her heart and rip her emotionally. She had not felt this connected to a patient in years. Lucie wiped her eyes again and left the room. She had another patient to attend to before she could focus on finding the boy's parents. She just needed one clue as to who the boy's parents were.

Suddenly Lucie had an idea. _Mar. I'm sure he will be able to help They have to have some way of finding out who the boy's parents are!_ Lucie picked up her pace and make a quick stop at the desk. Still no one had come in looking for the boy. Lucie was disheartened as she walked down to Keira's room. She felt her eyes burn again with tears and she had to stop and steel herself _Come on, Lucie! You are the best damned doctor in Haven City, if not in the world! You are the head of this hospital and if you fall apart then everyone else is screwed! Now put on a strong face and go do your job. Cry alone, not in front of your people. These are the people that need you to be strong. Strong, Lucie. You. Are. Strong!_

Lucie felt a little better and she put on a neutral face and continued down the hall. She knocked on the door before entering. Jak was sitting next to Keira who had stopped crying. She just sat there in a silent depression. Either she could not or would not speak. Torn and Ashelin were standing in the corner of the room conversing quietly. Lucie heard little snatches of their conversation. Her ears caught "cigs", "get back", and "paper work". She turned her attention to Daxter who was standing on the table next to the bed examining the medical instruments on the wall. He had his arms crossed tightly as if he was trying to keep his hands pinned down.

"You can look at those if you want to" Lucie said pulling out her scanner Daxter instantly reached for the closest thing, a little pen light. "Jak I need to scan Keira one more time before I can give you the okay to go. Take her home and let her get plenty of bed rest. At this stage of her pregnancy she needs to stay off her feet anyways."

Jak nodded as she gently detached himself from Keira so Lucie could scan her. Lucie started her scan and she could not help but have her thoughts wander back to the boy. This poor boy was so helpless it was heartbreaking. Lucie had seen so many people die, young and old, but she had also seen miracles. She had seen people brought back from the brink of death. Lucie believed in miracles, but this poor, hopeless boy cut her emotionally. To her surprise Lucie heard herself sigh a deep, depressed sigh. She was supposed to be strong right now.

"Doctor? Doctor Lucie, are you alright?" Torn said in his raspy voice.

Lucie took a deep breath and stopped her scan to look up at the people in the room. All of the occupants except Jak and Keira had their eyes trained on her. "It's nothing, really. I'm okay. It's just the job. Sometimes you get the cases that are utterly hopeless and you can't help but wonder why the person deserves their fate. It gets a little depressing sometimes."

"Is this that boy you were talking about earlier? The one with Eco Poisoning?" Ashelin said quietly.

Lucie nodded quietly. "Yeah. The poor child. There isn't any hope for him anymore. He has a two percent chance of surviving the night. There isn't any chance of healing him. We're just trying to keep him alive until we can find his parents. But it's been hours and nobody has come in looking for him. There haven't been any missing child reports. It's almost like nobody cares enough to look for him. The poor thing who should be so full of life and running around laughing and playing is dying of Dark Eco Poisoning."

"Wait, what happened?" Jak said catching onto the tail end of our conversation. Keira had started sobbing again.

"A little boy came in here earlier with Dark Eco Poisoning. We don't know who his parents are and nobody has come in looking for him. He has a two percent chance of surviving the night and even if he was to survive it wouldn't be worth it. The suffering that comes with Eco Poisoning would be awful for such an innocent child to go through."

Jak nodded thoughtfully "I know what Eco can do to a body." He said darkly "Especially Dark Eco. I've seen it take down full grown men in an instant. You're telling me this is a child."

"He can't be more than four years old." Lucie added.

"And nobody has filed a missing child report? That's strange. Even the orphanages keep closer tabs on their children that that. Can I see him? I might be able to help."

Lucie hesitated, hospital protocol did not allow this to happen, it was an invasion of privacy of the patient. But this was Mar, he could do whatever he wanted to in the hospital and nobody could do anything to stop him. "Yeah. If you can do anything to help us locate his parents or even a family member it would be great."

Lucie continued her scan as Ashelin spoke up. "Jak, we've got to go. Paper work and what not." She and Torn left the room. Lucie almost sighed in relief. They were very imposing when they wanted to be and she couldn't help but feel like she was being scrutinized when they were around. Again the scans showed no physical trauma to Keira or her baby.

_Wait a second_ Lucie thought as she noticed something on the scan she didn't see before. _There are two heart beats. Twins?_ Lucie was surprised _Twins are rare. I haven't seen a multiple birth in well it has to be almost twenty-five years. Wow this is the second set of twins I've ever seen. They probably already know about it._ Lucie put her scanner away satisfied that Keira was perfectly healthy.

"Honestly I'm not sure what it wrong with Keira. I think the extra amounts of hormones from her pregnancy are making her overly emotional and more prone to stress. How far is she into her term?"

"She's well into her eleventh month." Jak replied.

"So she's almost done. Is this her first pregnancy?"

"No, we have a four year old son. Iccarus, Ike for short. I don't know what about Ike is making Keira so upset. He should be safe at home."

Lucie shrugged "Like I said, it's probably just the extra hormones. Take her home and let her get plenty of rest."

Jak nodded. "Do you want me to see this child first? I can see what I can do to help. If anything we can put up lost child notices." He joked lightly.

Lucie smiled weakly. "Of course; follow me, he's in the ICU. If you want, Keira can come along so you can just head out after you see him."

Jak helped Keira to her feet and Daxter jumped onto his shoulder. They followed Lucie out of the room and down the hall.

Meanwhile…

A bright flash of blue light illuminated the dark room where a little boy lay unconscious on a bed that was too big for a child. Three short forms appeared from the light and jumped silently on the bed.

"What a shame." The fattest form said to his companions, "I hoped he could have been a little older before we had to do this to him. Even his father was older before we had to give him his channeling gifts."

"But dude," one who sounded like a surfer replied, "If we don't do it now, he'll like, die. And that would break his parent's hearts."

"Yes, but would having the same fate as his father be better? Imagine what would happen if he threw a tantrum. He could kill his family if he became a monster like his father. They would live in constant fear of him and people wouldn't trust him. That would break their hearts too."

The surfer remained silent at that possibility, but the other one spoke up. "Wait … uhh… can't there be a temporary way to fix it? Like, we do it now and we don't have to make him a full channeler until he's older, just suppress the eco's affects, or remove it."

"We can't just remove the Eco you idiot. Where would we put it? On the floor? No, it has to stay with him. There's nothing else we can do except make him a channeler, and I hesitate to do that. I don't want to yet, he's too young." He slammed his staff on the bed making it bounce slightly. "Arrgh ... this is so frustrating! What are we supposed to do?!"

Suddenly the room fall silent and a soft echo was heard down the hallway "Footsteps!" the surfer hissed to his companions. The fat leader raised him staff and summoned another blue light. In a flash they were gone.

Lucie opened the door to the boy's room and stepped inside. Jak followed behind her supporting Keira, Daxter was still riding on his shoulder.

"It smells like the other precursors in here." Daxter whispered in Jak's ear "Do you think they've been here?"

Jak just shrugged as he walked farther into the small room. Lucie flipped on the lights and he looked to the small figure on the bed. He froze and his face reflected sheer terror. Keira started sobbing with renewed anguish. Daxter almost fell off of Jak's shoulder. He shakily climbed off and walked over and jumped on the bed. "I-I-I don't understand. I-it can't be. H-how did her get here? …. Why?"

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 4. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> As an after thought I probably should have said this in chapter 1, but this story takes place about 7 years after the end of Jak X so Jak is about 26 years old, Keira is about 25, and Doctor Lucie Grizyvinsky is 55, yes shes old. But I've rambled on long enough, time to read, and please review even anonymous reviews are fine.
> 
> As always. Please read and review.
> 
> -The Beckster

"It's all my fault!" Keira wailed, suddenly finding her voice "I let him out of my sight for a minute and he got into the eco store!" Her legs gave out under her and Jak had to support her and move her to the chair placed next to the bed.

"Keira," he said calmly crouching down next to her and looking into her eyes "Please tell me exactly what happened."

Keira took a few shaky breaths before she could choke out "His usual nanny called in sick today. SO I figured I could watch him for one day without help. How hard could it be? So I was out in the garage working your jet board, Ike was playing with his toys quietly. Then after a little bit, I noticed that he wasn't talking to himself as he played his games. I turned around and he was gone. I thought that he had wandered into the yard and someone had taken him or he had wandered out on his own, but the gate was still locked and closed. So I searched the house. I checked every room in the house and couldn't fund him. Then I noticed that the door to the eco store was opened. The lock must have malfunctioned because when I checked in the room I saw Ike. H-h-he had somehow gotten the dark eco vault to open because when I saw him he was … he was … about to …" she stifled a sob and took a deep shaky breath; tears had started to stream down her face. Jak was still gently holding her face, but he just stared back at Keira in shock. "He was about to stick his hand in the dark eco!" Keira wailed as she dropped her head and pressed her face into Jak's chest "he's going to die and it's all my fault! I should have watched him closer!"

Jak snapped out of his shock and hugged Keira tight "No, shhhh, it's not your fault …" he murmured comfortingly in her ear.

_So that explains everything_ Lucie thought numbly. She walked over to the bed to check the machines keeping tabs on Ike's vitals. He was doing better after almost dying, but his condition was still poor.

"Lucie, we need you down here." Her communicator buzzed to her through her ear piece. "I've got to go, I'll be back soon." Lucie said, but nobody paid her any attention. She slipped out of the room and hurried to the front. When she reached the front she was surprised to find it full.

"Janice, when did we get so many people here?" she asked the head nurse and her best friend.

"What? Oh these aren't patients; they're family and friends waiting. Besides, none of the cases have been serious, just in and out on an hour or two. You had more important things to worry about." Janice handed Lucie a data pad "This one is different. The emergency crews are bringing her in right now. Rape. And it looks pretty bad."

Lucie had just enough time to scan over the data pad before the emergency team pushed the victim through the doors. She was rather young, maybe in her early twenties. Lucie noticed that the team was made up of mostly women; the only man was behind the stretcher out of sight of the victim. He had a black eye forming. Lucie raised a questioning eyebrow and before she could even open her mouth the leader spoke.

"She punched him in the face when he tried to check her. Turns out she still had some fight left in her. She's got a fracture in her right temporal bone and a compound fracture in her left humerus. She was also cut up really badly, we got the worst of the cuts with eco but she lost a lot blood."

"Alright," Lucie said as she motioned for some nurses on standby to take the girl "We've got it from here. And get some ice for that black eye." She called over her shoulder as she walked off to follow the girl. _Oh, Precursors, this girl is going to need a lot of eco and a lot of counseling._

Lucie entered the room and the nurses were already working on cleaning her wounds, setting her fractures and getting casts ready. The girl was still conscious but they were getting ready to put her under "It will help with the pain, I promise you're safe here, nobody will hurt you. Now take deep slow breaths" the nurse said soothingly. Lucie was handed an x-ray of the girl's skull and of her arm.

"Get some eco on that head would and put her arm in a cast." Lucie ordered. Then she and the rest of the team set to work on the girl

* * *

Jak sat in the hospital room watching his only son struggle between life and death on the bed a few feet away from him and knew he couldn't do anything to help him. He felt like he was going to tear in two, lose control, but he couldn't. Not here in the hospital, not with Keira in his arms, he could possibly kill her. He hadn't lost control like that in years. He knew Keira didn't have fault in letting Ike out of her sight. _He's three he's going to wander around_ Jak thought to himself. It was his fault; he was in a hurry and didn't close the room properly after he got a supply of Eco for the day. It was his fault the room was open for Ike to wander into, his fault his only son was on the brink of death, all his fault … all his fault … _all his fault_ …

Keira had fallen asleep on his shoulder and Daxter was lying on the bed by Ike's head deeply asleep. Jak sat there stewing in his silent thoughts when the room was illuminated with a flash of blue and three familiar figures appeared. The leader looked at Jak and then to Keira and Daxter. "Are they asleep?" Jak nodded silently.

"I was hoping you could come. You'll be able to save Ike wont you?" He looked at the leader ottsel pleadingly.

"We can't promise anything, Mar. Even you weren't that young when you received your channeling abilities. We could make him a channeler like you, but he already has the Dark Eco in his system; he'd be like you, only with less control. Every tantrum, every fit, every emotional outburst from him would turn him into a monster. He could hurt Keira if she was within reach, nothing could control him except for yourself in your Dark Form. But could you bring yourself to that? Could you hurt your own son to save your wife? Your children? Your friends? Your comrades? He'd be more feared that you were. He would have no friends, Keira would even fear him. His siblings would fear him. Can you imagine a six year old being afraid of their older brother because every time they said something to him he didn't like he might kill them? Could you put your future children though that?"

"And if you don't make …"

"If Ike does not become a channeler, he will die in days."

Jak had gently placed Keira in the chair making sure she still slept and was now angrily pacing the room. "So you're telling me I have to sacrifice my only son or the safety of my family?" he asked his voice shaking dangerously. "How can you ask me that? To choose between the two greatest loves of my life. That's like asking me to give up my left arm or my right arm, I need them both!" He stood still and gripped his head in his hands taking a few slow deep breaths trying to keep control.

"There's always the chance that Ike won't become a monster every time he got angry. He didn't come in contact with as much Eco as you were exposed to, but he's so small that his body reacted so badly to it. He may not be as bad as you are, and he might be easier to control. But the only way to know for sure is to make him a channeler. And make him like you. Jak, we'll come back later to get your answer on the fate of your son." The leader raised his staff to summon the blue eco power but Jak cut him off.

"Wait! I've made my choice." He paused for a moment. "Make Ike a channeler. I can control my Dark Form I should be able to control him while in it. And I do have my Light Form, and that's stronger that my Dark Form. I should be able to stop Ike before he does any harm." He looked at the Precursors waiting for their reply, waiting for them to say "No" but they never did. The leader took his staff and lightly touched Ike's heart with the tip while uttering some chant in an ancient tongue. A film of light consisting of White, Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, and Black shimmered over Ike's body all the colors were squishing together and pulling apart and moving over Ike like a kaleidoscope. Jak had to shield his eyes and he couldn't help but wonder how Daxter and Keira could sleep through this. Just as the light reached an unbearable intensity, it was gone and Jak was left with spots on his vision.

"It would be best if you were the only one to know about this; for a while at least. Keira doesn't have to know until she's home and has to be wary of his temper." The leader precursor said to Jak. The three Precursors looked at Jak one last time and the Leader raised his staff and they disappeared in a flash of blue light leaving Jak alone in the room. He gently set the still sleeping Keira on his lap so she would be on his shoulder again and Daxter stirred on the bed before waking and asking "Were the Precursors here again? It smells like them again." Jak nodded silently. Daxter looked into his friends eyes and saw a glimmer of hope that had not been there before. Comforted he curled back up and fell asleep.

Jak sat there thinking. Thinking about how everything would be different. How Ike would be changed. He wondered how prominent the eco was in his system and he prayed that it was not very prominent. Jak thought about how Ike could be extremely fussy at times and he couldn't help but fear what would happen to Keira or the new baby If Ike was to lose control. Jak stewed these thoughts over and over in his head until he heard hurried steps coming down the hallway.

* * *

Lucie had just left the girl's room and had stopped to get herself a cup of coffee. She was about to take her first sip when her communicator buzzed. She sighed and reached to look at the message. Her adrenaline spiked when she saw that the alert was coming from Ike's room. She abandoned her coffee and ran out of the break room.

Lucie burst into Ike's room, and hurried over to the bed. She sighed audibly in relief when she realized that Ike was not getting worse. In fact, he was getting rapidly better. _It doesn't make sense … his blood-eco levels are evening out. That's impossible unless …_ Lucie shot a quick look to Jak and then turned back to the machines _unless his body is absorbing the eco. He might be a channeler. Like father like son perhaps_.

Lucie walked over to Jak and he asked her in a whisper "How is he?"

"Better, amazingly better. It's like a complete turnaround. There still is some hope for your son, Mar."

Jak nodded and sat silently for a moment. Lucie saw the ghost of a smile play across his face before he asked "I need a communicator. Do you have one?"

Lucie shook her head "Mine is only connected to the hospital system. I'll go look for one though. I'll be right back." She turned and walked out of the room

"Hey, Janice," Lucie said a minute later as she approached the Nurses' Station "I need to borrow your normal communicator."

Janice handed Lucie her communicator "Here you go."

"Thanks." Lucie smiled and glanced at the clock _No way. It's can't be past midnight already! It's been eight hours since Ike got here._ Lucie did the math in her head and it really was that late _Precursors, no wonder I'm so tired._

She stopped for a second in the break room and grabbed herself a cup of coffee. She downed it quickly and then grabbed another one. She entered the room and handed the communicator to Jak and placed the cup of coffee on the table next to him. He murmured a thanks and she left quickly giving him privacy. Lucie wandered around the hospital for fifteen minutes checking various stations and just trying to kill time. Eventually her wanderings brought her back to the ICU. She knocked on the door to Ike's room and entered.

Daxter was awake now and he and Jak were conversing quietly. They stopped when Lucie walked over and Jak handed her the communicator with a quiet "thank you" Lucie left quickly feeling like they were waiting for her to leave before they started talking again.

Lucie took the communicator back to Janice. "Lucie, you know you really should go home soon." Her friend said before Lucie could even open her mouth to thank her.

"But – "Lucie started but Janice cut her off.

"Don't give me any buts. I've been here as long as you and you know as well as I do we aren't young any more. You can't stay up for two days straight with no sleep and only coffee for fuel like you could thirty years ago. You're fifty-five, not twenty-five. You've already been here for over a day. If you work yourself sick then you won't be helping anyone." Janice said sternly.

Lucie sighed "I know. I just can't seem to drag myself away from the boy. I'm afraid something will happen while I'm not here and –"

Janice cut her off again "Lucie, you know every doctor here and you know they are qualified to take care of anything that should arise. You interviewed them and hired them yourself. Now stop being a worry wart and go get some rest. You aren't committing a crime by taking care of yourself. Besides, Moxie is probably wasting away without you." She added with a smile.

Lucie thought and she realized how achingly tired she was, she had just been pushing the feeling away all night. "I know. Alright, I'll go home, but I'll be back early. Tell Dr. Turina that he is in charge of the boy until I return."

Lucie walked away from the Nurses' Station and headed back to the ICU for one last check. She knocked and entered the room and Jak was still awake talking to Daxter. Lucie walked over to Ike's bed and checked his monitors; he was doing so much better already.

"How is he?" Jak asked.

"Good. Amazing actually. If he continues to get better at this rate we should be able to take him off of the respirator and maybe even dialysis tomorrow afternoon."

Daxter smile and his ears perked up with hope. Jak smiled too. Keira stirred on his shoulder and woke up.

"Jak … Where are we?" she asked groggily and then she sat upright and said "Help me up, I gotta pee."

She stood up as quickly as her large belly would allow her and hurried off to the bathroom that was part of the room.

"Well, I'm going to head home for a few hours." Lucie said after the door clicked shut. "I've got a croca-dog that might eat my apartment and I've been here for over a day. I hate to leave, but I really need to go get some rest and food. Some other doctors should be in and out checking on Ike, they should come at least once an hour. I'll only be gone for a few hours."

"It's alright. You look worn out. Go get some rest. We'll be fine here."

"Okay, well there's a little food station for family of ICU patients down the hall if you get hungry or thirsty. I'll be back in the morning." Lucie said and she walked out of the room.

Lucie entered her apartment and braced herself for impact as a brown blur flew towards her. "Hello, Moxie. Did you miss me?" she cooed to her pet croca-dog. She set moxie down on the floor and walked into the kitchen. She quickly refilled Moxie's food and water before trudging off to her bedroom. She didn't even bother turning on the lights or changing her clothes. She just kicked off her shoes before she fell into bed and was asleep instantly.

Jak stood in the dimly lit hospital room watching his only son sleep. Keira walked back into the room and stood next to Jak giving him a hug. Her face was streaked with silent ears. Jak hugged her back and he heard her stifle a sob. He tightened his hug around her comfortingly.

"He - he's going to pull through isn't he Jak?"Keira asked shakily "He has to."

"Of course he will, Keira. After all, he is my son." Jak said reassuringly smiling to himself. He knew Ike was going to pull through, Ike _had_ to. The room was quiet except for the whirring, clicking, and humming of the medical machines and the beeping of the EKG. The couple passed the night like that, in each other's arms occasionally catching some sleep, constantly watching Ike.

To Be Continued ...


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 5. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

Bright morning sunlight reflected off the freshly fallen snow on the roof tops of the city and shone into my window blinding me. I shivered and moved my hand to where Moxie was sleeping curled under my blankets. My apartment was cold and I didn't want to get out of bed. "It usually doesn't snow this early into winter does it, Moxie?" She just grunted in reply and snuggled deeper into my warm blankets. _Lucky crocadog._ I thought as I shuffled to the bathroom for a hot shower before having some breakfast. I had just sat down to eating a bowl of cereal when I glanced at the clock. "You've got to be kidding me!" I yelled to no one "Ten o'clock!" I pratically inhaled my breakfast, grabbed my coat and boots and dashed into the still falling snow.

Fifteen minutes later found me rushing into Ike's room and finding Jak there alone. He looked up from his chair beside the bed to notice my entrance as I caught my breath and tried to warm my partly frozen fingers.

"It's gotten cold out there." I said as I shook some melting snow out of my hair and off my ears. "Where are Keira and Daxter?" I looked around the room and saw Jak was alone.

"I sent Keira and Daxter home with Torn and Ashelin when they came in earlier." Jak said with a shrug "She wouldn't have gone if one of the other doctors hadn't ordered her to go home. Daxter went with her incase anything might happen. The other doctors have been coming in every few hours to check on Ike. They say his status is improving, but they're going to keep him in the drug induced coma just for extra precautions."

I nodded; the doctors had already filled me in when I ran in the door. "Yes, he's doing remarkably well for someone his size, must be something special about him. We think he will be ready to be taken off the respirator this afternoon. Jak, now I'm telling you, doctor's orders, go home and rest for a few hours. Come back about three. I promise if anything changes with Ike we will call you immediately. However, I don't think anything will change. Come back later. You look dead on your feet. Leave Keira home, however. At her current stage of pregnancy she doesn't need this extra stress, and she needs to rest as much as possible."

Jak looked like he was about to argue, but decided against it and promised to be back at three. The rest of the morning and early afternoon was uneventful. Ike's status only got better and things were looking up for him; he might have gotten a release from the hospital in a day or so at the rate he was healing. It was all very strange, but everyone just assumed Ike was extremely blessed by the Precursors and some trait from his father had passed on to him.

Then three rolled around. Jak made his way back to the hospital and back to Ike's room. He said about four more inches of snow had fallen since this morning. I was getting ready to remove Ike's breathing tube and disconnect him from the respirator. I had one of the younger nurses with me, his name was Jesse, he was tall and strong, not that bad looking either, too bad he was about thirty years too young for me.

I started to gently remove the breathing tube from Ike when I noticed he was stirring on the bed. His eyes snapped open and his eyes moved around rapidly and panicked. He started to writhe around on the bed to escape Jesse's grasp, who had held his arms down when he noticed Ike's stirring. "Keep him still!" I snapped at Jesse "If he keeps moving like this I could puncture a lung! He could get Subcutaneous Emphysema!" (AN: that's when you get air bubbles under your skin from a leak in your lungs and it's all crackly and weird) Jesse tried to hold him tight but Ike's writhing broke his grasp on his arms. Jak came over and tried to hold Ike still while talking to him. I noticed something changing on Ike, his skin was getting darker along with his eyes and he seemed to be growing claws. He was desperately trying to scream and cry.

"Get away from him!" Jak yelled pushing Jesse and me away from the bed. "Go get an anesthesiologist!" He snapped at Jesse, who promptly left the room to get more help. I stood there horrified as the boy on the bed was transformed into a small monster (AN: imagine a mini Dark Jak if you will), snarling and trying to scratch and claw at Jak. He ripped the breathing tube out of his mouth and cried an inhuman scream as he bit Jak's forearm with what looked like fangs and scratched at anything he could get at. Jak wrapped his arms around Ike and held him tight wincing as his flesh was pierced and torn by the teeth and claws of the monster. Ike's scream turned into a gurgling choke as he gasped for breath and collapsed on the bed changing back to his normal self Jak laid him on the bed listened for any breath.

"What the hell was that?" I cried holding my hand to my heart.

"He's not breathing Doctor!" Jak called and I rushed over to Ike.

I picked up the breathing tube that had been thrown to the floor "He may have punctured his lung when he pulled this out. Look, see those bubbles forming under his skin; we have to get him into surgery now!"

We wheeled Ike into the OR and I passed him into the hands of the respiratory surgeons. We went back to the room to intercept Jesse and the anesthesiologist when I noticed Jak's arm where Ike bit him. There were deep puncture wounds and the tissue around it was turning a disgusting purple-black shade, almost like Dark Eco.

"You need to get that cleaned up, hang on I'll get some Green Eco." I turned to leave the room.

"Don't bother." Jak said and he placed his other hand over the wound and concentrated for a moment. His hand glowed a whiteish-blue for a few seconds and then faded back to normal and he removed his hand. All that was left of the deep wound was two small bruises where the holes were. I gaped opened mouthed at the spectacle and he half smiled "Light Eco. It heals anything if you can channel the energy. That's why no one close to me ever comes to the hospital with any injuries or illnesses. When you have the Sage of Green Eco as you father-in-law and I can channel Light Eco, there's no need."

"Just when you think you've seen it all…" I quietly laughed to myself. "In all my years in health care I've never seen Light Eco used like that. Or used at all, it's too unstable for practical use still. You know, I never asked you, but how did the emergency team know to go to your home yesterday? No one called or anything. They just got the signal." I asked Jak, the question had been nagging me all day and now I had time to ask.

"We have a friend of ours do the security and all the computer systems of our home. He noticed that the lock of the store room door was malfunctioning and when he switched to the security camera for the room he saw Ike and Keira. And he sent in the signal to the Emergency Unit computers and they responded to the call at the house. Then he notified Ashelin, and the rest of the story you know." Jak explained.

"Wow, your friend really knows him computers if he can do that…." I mused

"You could almost say he's one with the computer. Vin's a computer genius." Jak miled slightly as if he made a joke.

"Wow … That cleared a lot of things up."

Jak just nodded silently and looked up as Jesse and the anesthesiologist who was in charge of Ike entered the room. Anger flashed in his eyes as he stood to confront him and I had a bad feeling this wouldn't be a pleasant conversation to witness.

"Where's the boy?" the anesthesiologist asked.

"I'll tell you where he is." Jak replied before I could open my mouth to reply "My son woke up when they were removing his breathing tube for the respirator. He woke up because YOU did not give him enough drugs to keep him under in the coma!" Jak was getting more furious by the second; this would only end in yelling. "Ike panicked when he woke up to find strange people pulling a tube out of this throat. He started having a panic attack. Do you know what happened when Ike had his panic attack? The Dark Eco turned him into a monster he could have KILLED that man" He yelled gesturing furiously to Jesse. "And now, Ike is undergoing surgery because he ripped his breathing tube out and punctured his lung! Now it's going to be even longer until we can take our son home! And it's all your fault!"

The anesthesiologist, being a proud man, did not take those accusations and got face to face with Jak and started yelling at Jak. His voice kept rising to almost a yell. " _I_ did nothing wrong! The child was under normal dosage for the drugs to keep him in a coma. I did what I have been trained to do. Giving a small child the dosage for an adult would put him in an irreversible coma or _kill_ him! By any means the drugs should have kept him in the coma! Do not come pointing your fingers at me blaming me for something that was not under my control. I do not know the ways Dark Eco affects the usefulness of drugs in _children. Children don't get Dark Eco Poisoning!"_ He said putting extreme emphasis on every word of this last sentence. I slipped out of the room quietly to be ready to call security of anything broke out in that room between the two proud men, regardless of Jak being the leader of Haven City. I was twenty feet down the hall when I heard Jak's reply clearly as if I was standing next to him.

"YOU THINK I _LET_ MY ONLY SON GET ECO POISONING?! WHAT KIND OF FATHER DO YOU THINK I AM? I WASN'T EVEN HOME WHEN THAT HAPPENED! HE GOT INTO THE STORE ROOM WHEN THE LOCK MALFUNCTIONED! HE WAS BEING CURIOUS LIKE ANY OTHER THREE YEAR OLD WOULD BE WITH A VAT OF FUNNY GLOWING STUFF! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO? LEASH HIM TO THE WALL?!"

I didn't hear much of the anesthesiologist's reply because he could not match Jak in volume and I was farther down the hall, but I knew it would only make Jak angrier from the words I caught. I heard "Irresponsible. Accident waiting to happen. Abusive!" I knew this wouldn't turn out good and I hurried to around the corner to call the hospital security to bring the croca-dogs up to try and control the situation. I bumped into a large man who was comming around the corner the same time i rounded the corner.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry." I said as I backed up and looked at the man. He was not large as in fat though, he was really tall and muscular with dark skin. He was in full armor in the style of the Wastelanders, well it looked like what little wasteland armor I had seen, and one of his eyes was a glowing red mechanical eye. He was easily taller that Jak and he passed my height by a good four inches. He had a gun strapped to his back and I wondered how they let him through security with that.

He looked down at me and smiled "It's no problem, I should have been watching where I was going" His voice was really deep too and it seemed full of underlying mirth; like he always had a smile on his face and a joke to tell. He stopped for a moment to listen to the fight going on down the hall. "Jak doesn't sound too happy does he? I better go stop him before he gets too angry." He hurried down the hall to Ike's room but ten feet away Jesse burst out of the room looking terrified.

"Doctor! They've gone at each other's throats! Literally! And Dr. McKee is no match against Mar! Call Security!" The strange man ran into the room muttering some profanities about the precursors and we followed him wonder just what exactly he could do against Jak.

I stopped in the door way and the scene took my breath away. Jak had had hand wrapped around Dr. McKee's neck and he was holding him up against the wall off the ground. Jak's eyes had turned solid black and his finger nails seemed to grow longer and darker every second. Dr. McKee was choking and desperately trying to tear Jak's vice off his neck, but the city leader was relentless, or he did not realize what he was doing anymore. He no longer looked like the noble leader of the city, but a savage animal who's only pleasure would be to snap Dr. McKee's neck. I knew what was happening, I saw Ike do the same thing earlier, but Jak's savagery only reached his face. His animalistic face was nothing short of maniacal and I feared for Dr. McKee's life. Jak scowled was full of hatred and he uttered a deep threatening growl. Something was keeping Jak mostly human, only his face and hands were changing.

The strange man stepped forward and said in a threatening commanding voice that was nothing like how he sounded before "Let him go Jak." He broke Jak's vice on Dr. McKee, who was turning blue. Dr. McKee slid down to the floor and stayed there. The stranger pulled Jak away from the wall. Jesse rushed over to Dr McKee and supported him as he choked and coughed massaging his neck. Jak took a swing at the strange man with his claws for intervening, but the man caught Jak and trapped him and pushed him against the wall next to me pinning Jak's arms down with his body. "Listen to me Jak. You don't want to do this. You can keep control, fight it. Think of Keira, and Ike. Don't do this." Jak struggled in his arms for a moment just trying to get at the closest person he could rip and claw, but stopped and slowly blinked as if trying to clear his head. The strange man released him and he staggered away pressing his hands to his head as if he had a massive headache.

"Uuuuugh… Sig?" He groaned still clutching his head in his hands but obviously addressing the strange man. _Sig? I wonder if that's who Torn and Ashelin were talking about last night._ I thought. Jak leaned against a wall and slid down to the floor still clutching his head. His claws had returned back to their normal finger nails and his eyes returned to their normal blue.

"Uggh, Sig, what happened? I remember getting angry and yelling, and then everything went black. I feel like I went into Dark Phase. I didn't, did I?" He looked around the room panicked and his eyes fell on Dr. McKee, who was still catching his breath. "Oh my God, Sig, what did I do?"

Dr. McKee stood up massaging his throat and coughed before viciously saying, "You are still a monster! You always have been and you will always be! No matter what you claim to have control over! You're not fit to be leader! You're not fit to be anything! You're a menace to everyone around you!"

Jak gave a startled jerk and looked angry for a second but his anger was replaced with deep anguish as the truth of the words sunk in. He buried his head in his arms trying to hide his shame and keep his anger under control.

"Jesse, take Dr. McKee out of the room! I don't need another fight in my hospital!" I snapped breaking out of my shocked silence. Jesse led the doctor out and I followed him. "Doctor, you have my leave to take the rest of the day off, and tomorrow. Full days paid vacation. Go home and relax so today's events do not repeat themselves." He opened his mouth to protest but I interrupted him "No, don't argue with me. I heard you two fighting all the way down the hallway. I heard what you said to him and he had every right to get angry. Go home and cool off until you can be civil to our patients and their families." He glared at me mutinously and I said threateningly "Do it or it may be your job that I get rid of next." I wouldn't fire him, but if he had that little fear eating at the back of his mind for a while that would be okay if it kept him out of trouble.

Dr. McKee turned around and stomped down the hall in a huff. "Make sure he leaves, and then see how you can be useful. I won't need any help until we get the child back, and that will be a while." I said to Jesse, who turned down the hall and followed after Dr. McKee. _Now to see how Jak and Sig are doing._ I thought as I turned around to walk back into the room. Just as I was opening the door I heard the wheels of a bed coming down the hall and I knew Ike was coming back. _That was faster than usual._ I thought. I hurried in the room to find Jak in the same position I left him in, Sig was crouched next to him they were talking quietly but stopped then I entered the room.

"Ike's coming back. I'd try and look normal if I were you, just to keep suspicions down." I said quickly. Jak stood up and put on a neutral face before they pushed Ike through the door. Sig stood back behind Jak trying to go unnoticed.

"He's on the respirator again; keep him on it until tomorrow at least. He's recovering amazingly quickly from these past events, but I don't know how much he could handle before something does kill him. Be careful with him, we've put him on stronger doses to keep him unconscious so we hopefully won't have to repeat today tomorrow." The doctor said to me and he left the room.

I nodded silently and thanked him before he left. Jak walked over to the bed and silently sat down placing his hand over Ike's hand. Sig walked over and said very depressed "Poor little cherry, never knew what hit him did he?"

I shook my head silently agreeing with Sig. I looked to Jak to see his reaction, but Jak just stared blankly at a spot on the bed, deep in thought and oblivious to the world around him.

To Be Continued….


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 6. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

A week passed and Ike's condition continued to get better. His lung healed perfectly and he seemed completely oblivious to what had happened to him over the past few weeks. We had no more episodes with his temper. At the beginning of the second week of his stay in the hospital, we moved Ike out of the ICU and into the Pediatric Wing. He was absolutely delighted to have other children to play with and we never saw any issues with his temper that may have been expected from another child who had never had playmates. Ike was a delight to be with and his eyes lit up every he was visited by Jak and Keira or Sig. Torn and Ashelin even came to visit him once. He was a very intelligent and charming child for one of his age and he caught the heart of every doctor, nurse, PA, and anyone else in the hospital who encountered him in his messy, little hands as finger painting had become his favorite activity. His recovery was amazing. Ike's hair faded back to the bluish-blond it was originally, a unique mix of Jak and Keira's hair which neither color seemed the dominate trait, but his eyes never faded back to their original bright blue. The outside rim of the iris faded back to his original color, but as you progressed closer to the pupil the color steadily got darker and darker until the iris was almost as black as the pupil itself. It was just amazing; I never thought Ike would recover as well as he did.

Everyone was sure that Ike would be released from the hospital at the end of the week. Unfortunately in the middle of the week Ike had a relapse. He was rushed back into the ICU and we did everything we could to try and save him again, but the eco poisoning was worse this time through. Ike teetered on the brink of death and everyone had lost hope, even I lost hope. Jak returned to spending every hour of the day with Ike and he watched over him all night. Keira came too during the day, but she was so far into her pregnancy she tired quickly and left every evening.

On the second night that Ike was returned to the ICU I had finished checking out Ike's vitals and Jak was standing there with his arms folded across his chest glaring angrily at the bed, but his eyes saw nothing in the room. I walked over to him afraid he was angry at me and the other doctors who had worked so hard and quietly said "I'm sorry Jak. We did everything we could for Ike. Everything we would have done for any other adult, but Ike's a child. This is something we have never seen before we had no way of knowing how this would end. We did our best …. I'm so sorry Jak. We _all_ tried our hardest"

Jak shook his head and looked at me "I know you all tried Doctor. It's just….. I'm not mad at you or anyone in the hospital. It's just….. it's hard to explain. Let's just say I was promised that Ike would survive this and leave it at that. Thank you Doctor, thank you and everyone for at least keeping Ike alive this long. At least his last days were happy, we all were happy. I don't think his last days could have been better." He stopped to take a deep breath, but when he spoke again his voice quivered "I'm really thankful you never gave up on Ike even when everyone else did… you opened my eyes to health care and that there are Doctors out there who care…. When I was a prisoner, many years ago, the Baron had "doctors" hired to check the prisoner's health after the "experiments" and know if they were truly dead or still alive. They were cold, cruel people. I couldn't possibly think that they were real doctors, but after of two years dealing with them every day, I didn't know what a real doctor was anymore. I feared them. That's the real reason why I never brought anyone close to me into the hospital before. I know it's stupid, but if you knew what I went through you probably would have the same fears. But thank you, Doctor, you helped Ike and you helped me see what real health care is."

I just listened to Jak silently surprised to what he told me. It was common knowledge what the Barron did to his victims and it made sense that the experience would traumatize anyone. The shock cam when I realized that he was confessing his weakness to me, I'm just a doctor, I'm just doing my job. The idea that Jak trusted me enough to be trusted with this secret just rocked me to my core.

I chose my words carefully as I spoke to Jak again "Jak, it's not stupid to fear the term "doctor" after what happened to you. Any sane person would never want to go anywhere near the hospital after they were the Barron's prisoner like that…. I've had patients that never want to see me after I give them a simple shot of Eco for the flu. I'm… glad that I have opened your eyes to real health care, and I'm sorry for what you had to experience." I turned and left the room, I didn't have the heart to tell him even I had lost hope on Ike.

At 4 in the morning that night, Ike flat lined.

To Be Continued…


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 7. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

The single tone jerked Jak out of his light doze. Panicked, he looked around the room and his eyes fell on the EKG monitor, the single green flat line.

"No! No no no-no… no! It can't be! Ike!" Jak practically jumped out of the chair and ran over to Ike's bed. "Ike!" he yelled shaking his son's shoulder, who heard and felt nothing. Jak was about to summon his Light Eco power and use it on Ike but the door burst open and in rushed Dr. Grzyvinski and other doctors he did not recognize. They ran over to the bed and one of the doctors pushed Jak out of the way. Jak stumbled numbly over to the wall and gripped it with his hands afraid he would fall if he let go. He stood there shaking his head quietly muttering to himself "No no no no this can't be happening. No! No!"

"CLEAR!" came the strong voice of Dr. Grzyvinski as she pressed the defibrillator pads to Ike's chest trying to jump start his heart. THMP! Nothing. "Clear!" she did it again. THMP! Nothing again. "Is this at its max? We need more power!"

"Lucie we can't give it anymore power! Not for a child, it would cook his heart not start it!"

"CLEAR!" She cried again, getting desperate. THMP! Nothing. "CLEAR!" THMP! Again, nothing.

Everything moved in slow motion for Jak. He heard every heart beat in his ears; it was so loud it almost drowned the cries of Dr. Grzyvinski. Jak flinched as he watched them shock Ike again and again, his little body arching and twitching with every shock. Four ... Four agonizing shocks from the defibrillator before they stopped.

"Can't we do anything else?" Someone asked, their voice shaking.

"I'm afraid not, we already know eco won't work on him, we tried that. And it won't bring someone back to life." Another doctor replied.

"I'm… I'm afraid little Ike is lost." Dr. Grzyvinski said with a sense of finality "There's nothing we can do. Go back to where you were before. I'll call the coroner and grief counselor."

Jak watched numbly as the doctors cleared out of the room somberly. _Why were they moving so slowly? Why did they stop? One more shock could have saved Ike._ Jak thought as he watched them, unnoticed by everyone until Dr. Grzyvinski was the only other person in the room. Slowly she pulled the white bed sheet up and over Ike's head. She walked over to Jak and paused placing a hand on his shoulder and looking into his eyes.

"I'm sorry Jak. We all tried. If you need to talk to someone the grief counselor will be there for you and your family."

Jak looked at her slowly, he saw her eyes were brimming with tears, but it didn't register to him why. He then focused his eyes on the bed again. He hardly heard what she said; his heart was still beating in his ears. He couldn't say anything, he could hardly breathe right. It felt wrong to him, this ragged breathing. The fact that he was still breathing when his son was not was almost too much to bear.

Dr. Grzyvinski left the room leaving Jak alone. The click of the door latch brought Jak back to his senses. His heart stopped pounding in his ears and in a split second he was beside the bed. He focused and let his eco energy flow out from him and onto his son. _It has to work this time!_ Jak thought frantically as Ike's corpse was bathed in white light. Nothing happened. Jak tried again and nothing happened. Jak was ready to try it again when a voice spoke to him.

"It won't work Jak. It didn't work on your father and it won't work now."

Jak spun around to see the three Precursors standing there looking somber. "You promised!" Jak hissed at them through clenched teeth. "You said that making him a channeler would save him! You PROMISED!"

"There is no promise to living, Jak. You should know that."

Jak was beyond rational thought, if he had any Dark eco in his system he would have changed right then and there, but he had no Dark Eco and he used all his light Eco. Instead he lunged at the leader Precursor and lifted him off the ground and held him against the wall by his throat.

"First you promise me my son would live if you made him a channeler, but then here he is dead! And you come waltzing in here saying that the promise you made me meant nothing! Come to rub it in that he's dead with your philosophical talk! I don't want to hear it! I want my son back!"

The leader Precursor replied weakly, for Jak was starting to crush his wind pipe "We … can bring … Ike back….." Jak released him and he fell to the floor and sat there coughing

"How?!" Jak demanded "HOW?" he yelled when the Precursor didn't reply.

"We didn't realize it when we made Ike a channeler, but that would not save him from the eco already in his system. The eco would disappear, but his organs would still be poisoned, he still would have died. We have been spending the last week desperately searching for and old magic that would reverse the affects of the eco and save Ike, and we found it. We knew we would be too late though, and then we stumbled across something else. Here we are, too late for our first incantation, but when we work our second one, we should be able to use our first one."

"Then get started! What are you waiting for? An engraved invitation?"

"There's always the chance that it won't work Jak. Ike still may be dead. And if that happens, we're sorry Jak. We all tried."

"Just get started. Maybe if you try I'll choose to not kill you for giving everyone false hope." Jak growled dangerously as he stood back with his arms crossed, pinning them against his body before he broke one of the small ottsels.

The leader nodded to the other three and they took positions on the bed, one at Ike's head, the leader in the middle and another at his feet. They started chanting in the ancient language and Ike's corpse was covered in green light until the green was not covering Ike, but in him. His skin, hair and clothes turned green as the precursors chanted faster and faster. Then without stopping they switched their chant seamlessly. The green left Ike's body when they changed and as soon as it did the EKG started beeping and Ike's chest rose and fell slowly and deeply, like he was sleeping. The Precursors summoned Light Eco and it sank into Ike's body. It was in for a few seconds before it rose out of him. Jak noticed the Light Eco seemed darker, or dirty. Then it disappeared and the Precursors stopped chanting and turned to face Jak.

"It's done. It worked! Ike's alive again and his organs are clean of the Dark Eco. This won't happen again." The leader said beaming triumphantly.

Jak was speechless for a moment "But…. But how did the Light Eco work for you, but when I used it, it didn't work? How?"

"You do not have the power to send the Light Eco into the body to purge the Dark Eco out. That's what we used it for. It still would not have brought Ike back. That's why we had to bring him back first."

"That's just … amazing …. I can-" Jak was cut off by the door bursting open and a confused Dr. Grzyvinski ran in followed by two people Jak did not recognize, nor did he care who they were. The Precursors dashed under the bed to hide before they were seen, they disappeared in less than a second.

"What the hell is going on?!" Dr. Grzyvinski cried out running her hand through her hair. She ran over to Ike's bed and checked everything. "By the Precursors, it's a miracle! He was dead five minutes ago! We shocked him four times and nothing happened?" She turned to face Jak, but he just shrugged not hiding his delight that Ike was alive again. "It's like you said, it's a miracle!"

Dr. Grzyvinski started laughing shakily but then Jak joined in and they started laughing louder until it was a full out laugh fest. They couldn't stop. Then the door burst open again and in came a haggard Keira and a rumpled ottsel riding on her shoulder.

"Jak!" she ran over to him and he hugged her tight "Jak why are you laughing? Vin woke me up ten minutes ago and said that Ike died! What's wrong with you?"

Jak just laughed harder at the look on her face but then stopped long enough to say "Ike's not dead Keira! We are truly blessed by the Precursors. Ike isn't dead anymore! Look for yourself!" He steered her shoulders to face the bed as he started laughing again and her eyes widened as she saw the signs of life from Ike. She started laughing too with Jak and they kissed long and loving. Dr. Grzyvinski took that as her sigh to leave them to this miraculous reunion. Daxter jumped to the floor and waited for Jak and Keira to come back to reality, they didn't. The three Precursors came out from under the bed and the leader cleared his throat bring Jak and Keira back to reality.

"Thank you!" Keira said to them, her voice thick and her eyes full of tears.

Ike stirred on the bed and sat up looking around blearily as if he was awakening from a deep sleep. "Mommy?"

Keira sat down on the bed next to Ike and let her tears flow freely as she furiously hugged Ike. He squirmed under her but she didn't let go. He asked, his question slightly muffled by her coat she had thrown on over her pajamas. "Mommy, why are your eyes leaking? Are they broken?"

Keira laughed through a sob and replied "I'm crying, Ike"

"Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm so happy. Everything is going to be all right now. Everything will be alright now."

"Oh… but I thought people cried when they were sad?"

Jak laughed and answered this question "Sometimes they do, Ike, and sometimes people are just so happy for what they have that they can't help but cry."

"Oh" Ike replied then he rubbed his eyes and looked up to Jak and then back to Keira who was gently stroking his hair and humming to Ike. Jak noticed Ike's eyes had returned back to their normal blue, like nothing had happened.

The Precursors decided it was time to leave, while Ike was distracted and everyone was happy again. They were gone in a flash of blue light, but no one saw. Daxter Jumped onto the bed next to Ike and ruffled his hair. "Hey buddy."

"Uncle Daxter!"Ike cried as he threw his arms around the ottsel and gave him a hug. "When did you get here? Did you hear? Mommy said everything was going to be alright now! Everyone's happy now!"

"Ha ha ha! You're right there, Shorty. Everything will be okay now. He ruffled Ike's hair and started telling him some story about a crocadog and a yakcow, which Ike found absolutely hilarious. No one saw Jak wipe the silent tears from his eyes. Everyone was happy. Everything was finally right.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 8. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

"UNCLE SIG!" Ike cried as soon as he saw the door opened.

"Hey there, munchkin!" Sig laughed as he crouched down with his arms open for Ike. Ike ran towards him and was swept up and placed on Sig's shoulder in less than five seconds of the wastelander walking in the door.

"Is that you Sig?" Keira's voice floated down the hall from the kitchen "Ike, come eat your lunch or you won't be able to go with Uncle Sig!"

Sig walked into the kitchen taking Ike off of his shoulder as they walked through the door way. Ike ran over to the table where Keira set a sandwich and some yakcow milk for him. Sig walked over to Keira and gave her a friendly hug "How are you today?"

"Ugggh" Keira replied as she turned around and set some cut up fruit in front of Ike. "Do you want anything Sig?"

"No, I'm fine. I ate before I left."

"Good." Keira said as she gently eased herself into a chair with a soft groan. Sig took the chair across from her at the table. Ike started eating his lunch with gusto.

"So it's really that bad?" Sig asked jokingly nodding towards Keira's swollen belly

"You have no idea." Keira replied, exhaustion hanging at the edge of her words "My feet hurt all the time, I can hardly stand up for more than twenty minutes. I have to pee every ten minutes. I'm just ready for this baby to come; for it to be over, to have this baby out of me and for it to be all over and done with. It's worse than when I was carrying Ike it was never this bad, and I always thought the first pregnancy was the hardest."

"It probably doesn't help that you're a week over due either" Sig said nonchalantly. Keira just glared at him

"Drink your milk Ike." She said quietly to Ike, who was ignoring his milk.

"I'm home!"

"We're in the kitchen, Jak!" Keira called back.

Jak walked into the kitchen and came over to Keira giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek before walking over to Ike and ruffling his hair, Daxter jumped off of Jak's shoulder and onto the table. "Hey buddy, how are you today?"

"Good" Ike replied.

"Were you good for Mom today? Were you good enough for Mom so she will allow you to go with Uncle Sig later?"

"Yes dad"

Jak looked at Keira "He was very good today." She affirmed.

"That's good. Well Ike you should finish your lunch so we can get you packed up. I'm sure Sig has a lot of things he wants to do with you tonight."

Ike started eating again while Jak made himself lunch. After a few minutes Keira stood up with a sigh and said to Jak "Make sure he drinks all his milk." before she waddled out of the room quickly.

"So," Sig said once Keira was out of the room "Ready to become a new dad again?"

Jak laughed "Let's just say it has been a long twelve months. The mood swings, the cravings. Not to mention our little hospital stay and the stress that came with that. I'm as ready to have this baby as Keira is to have it out of her."

Sig laughed warmly "That's why I stayed single and never had any kids. So do you know if the baby is a boy or girl yet?"

"Well Keira's hoping for a girl, but Ike wants a little brother. I honestly don't care if it's a boy or a girl."

"How's Samos handling the suspense of waiting for his new grandchild?"

Jak rolled his eyes "He's going crazy. He's absolutely sure a tree told him it would be a boy He tried to get Onin to see if the baby was a girl or boy. That was rather interesting actually." Jak chuckled "Pecker didn't take too kindly to having their "mystic powers" used as an ultrasound!"

Both Jak and Sig burst out laughing and Ike looked up questioningly "Who made a joke? Did I miss something really funny?"

"Daxter you've been unusually quiet today. Cat got your tongue?" Sig asked.

"No." Daxter replied in a soft voice "Tess got bronchitis and then I got it and I lost my voice. It hurts to talk."

"Ha, I bet Torn enjoyed the quiet in the office today, huh?" Sig laughed. Jak laughed with him but Daxter just glared at them both.

Keira walked into the kitchen at that moment. "Are you sure you don't want anything, Sig? Daxter?" they both shook their heads 'no'.

"What's wrong Dax?" She asked as she eased herself into a chair again "You're awful quiet today."

"He lost his voice." Jak explained simply.

"Oh. I bet Torn enjoyed the silence today." She laughed, the others laughed too, and even Ike laughed, not knowing why.

"Mommy, I'm done eating." Ike said.

Keira sighed almost inaudibly at the thought of standing up again "Alright, Ike, good job. Why don't you go with Dad and start packing your things. I'll clean up your dishes."

"Don't worry about it Keira," Sig said standing up before she could even start to stand up "I'll get them, you just rest for a few minutes."

Keira scowled at Sig but she stayed in her chair. She crossed her arms across her chest and mumbled to herself "Just because I'm a big, fat, pregnant woman doesn't mean I am incapable of doing anything."

Jak shot a look at Sig and they exchanged smirks. Keira had done this the last time she was pregnant too.

"Dad, come on. I wanna go with Uncle Sig now! Come on!" Ike said tugging at Jak's hand impatiently.

"Go ahead, Ike, I'll follow you." Jak said gently pushing on his son's shoulders. Ike dashed down the hall laughing with glee. He loved spending time with Uncle Sig and Jak out in the Wasteland.

"I already packed most of his clothes, Jak. You just need to get him some books and toys packed. And his tooth brush." Keira said.

"Alright, I'll remember that. You stay here and get something to eat. Sig, Dax, and I will be helping Ike pack. And explaining to him he has to go alone today. Are you sure he will be able to handle it?"

"I'm sure Jak. Besides I think he would be more crushed missing his weekend with Uncle Sig then if you weren't there for one time."

"I suppose you're right." Jak sighed reluctantly and he walked out of the kitchen. Daxter hopped back on his shoulder and Sig followed Jak.

"What do you mean you're not coming with me, Dad? Why can't you come?" Ike asked his voice thick with worry.

"Aww, don't worry Ike. You'll be fine without me" Jak said as he picked his son up, "You love staying with Uncle Sig. You'll have a lot of fun."

"But why can't you come too?" He asked again. Tears started to form in his eyes

"I need to stay here with Mommy. She's so close to having her baby. I don't want to be too far away. She may need help. Do you understand?

Ike sniffed and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "I guess."

"Trust me; you will have so much fun with Uncle Sig that you will hardly miss us. And we will call you before you go to bed." Jak smiled reassuringly at his son, "Unless, of course, you would rather miss your weekend with Uncle Sig. You could stay home."

Ike dried up instantly "No! I wanna go with Uncle Sig! I wanna go with Uncle Sig!" He cried out and then added reassuringly "I'm a big boy, I can handle it."

Jak and Sig laughed and he set Ike down "That's my boy. Now go and tell Mommy good-bye."

Ike ran out of his room and into the kitchen. Jak, Sig and Daxter followed. "Will you be alright if he misses us too much, Sig?" Jak asked quietly

"I've got it all covered. He's going to be so worn out by the end of the day that after you call he'll be perfectly fine. And if he still won't settle down I'll do what my momma did. Give him some warm Yakcow milk and read him a bed time story. That always puts him down; he really enjoys the story about the "Brave warrior who saved the world from evil Space Invaders". Ike won't be a problem. Besides, it's not that far of a ride back here if he gets too out of hand."

Worry clouded Jak's face and he stopped walking and said in an anxious whisper "Can you handle him if he gets _too_ out of hand? He has no control, if he gets too emotional he could change in an instant. He's venomous Sig. Can you handle that? What if he bites you? You don't have the natural resistance like I do."

"Jak, relax. It won't get to that point. Trust me. I've got everything covered."

Jak sighed, "I believe you, it's just that … I'm worried how Ike will handle being alone. He hasn't been alone since we knew he was in the hospital."

Sig placed his hand on Jak's shoulder and smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, little Ikey will be perfectly fine. Besides he has something to look forward to when he comes home, he may have a new baby brother."

Jak laughed, "Your right. We should tell him that before he goes."

The men walked into the kitchen where Keira had Ike standing on her knees hugging her around her large belly. "Bye Mommy." He said.

"Bye, Ike. Be good for Uncle Sig okay? Have fun." Keira said.

"I will."

"Who knows? Maybe you will have a new baby brother or sister when you come home."

"Really? Wow that will be so cool! I hope I get a little brother!"

"Ready to go, Ike?" Jak said standing in the door way.

"Yes, Dad." Ike gave Keira one more hug and jumped off her lap. Sig picked Ike up and placed him on his shoulder.

"We're going to have tons of fun, Ike" Sig said merrily to his adopted nephew, "Besides, since your dad won't be there we can do all the fun stuff he won't let you do." Sig said lowering his voice so only Ike could hear. The toddler laughed at his uncle. They walked out to Sig's cruiser. It resembled an old Hellcat, but it didn't have any guns and there was more seating and a closed cockpit. Sig swung Ike into the seat and strapped him in before climbing in.

"Bye, Ike. Be good." Jak said before Sig closed the cockpit. He stepped back and waved as the cruiser took off heading for the Wastelands.

To Be Continued…


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 9. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

Jak watched the disappearing cruiser until it was a speck in the sky. He walked back inside and into the kitchen. Keira was not there so he moved to the family room and stood there waiting for her to come back. Keira walked into the kitchen and Jak snuck up behind her and wrapped her in a hug, placing his hands on either side of her belly.

"Jak!"She jumped, "Don't do that, you startled me. You'll send me into early labor or something." She laughed and moved Jak's hands "Feel right there, the baby's kicking. She's really active, Ike was never that active."

"Yeah…" Jak trailed off he rested his chin on Keira's shoulder and stood there for a moment.

"Weren't you going back to work today since you're not going with Ike out to the Wasteland?" Keira asked turning her head and leaning her cheek against Jak's.

"Yeah, I suppose I should." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and stepped away holding his arm out for Daxter to jump back up onto his shoulder. "I'll see you later, alright?" They hugged and Jak kissed Keira on the cheek again before he walked out of the door calling an 'I love you' back to Keira.

"Keira, are you feeling alright? You've hardly eaten anything." Jak asked concerned.

"Huh?" Keira looked up and stopped pushing her food around her plate, "Oh, yeah I'm feeling fine. I guess I'm just not hungry, that's all. I ate lunch late today."

Jak nodded "We should call Ike soon. You done with dinner?"

Keira pushed her plate away and stood up "Yeah, let's call him." Jak followed her out of the room. They walked in silence to the communications room, as they liked to call it, and over to the video phone Keira had put together because she didn't like the way the hologram tables took up so much space. She had made three one for their home, one for the palace in the wasteland, and on for New Palace, a much less daunting structure built where the ruins of the old palace of the Baron had been. The screen was blank while the waited for Sig to get to the phone, it hummed gently while Keira ran her hands over the panel unconsciously. Jak stood behind her wringing his hands _"what if he isn't okay? Why is Sig taking so long to answer? What if he hurt Sig? What if? What if?"_ A million 'what if's' bounced around Jak's head while they waited for Sig to pick up on the other side.

"Do you think they're ok?" Keira asked quietly. Jak opened his mouth to answer but he cut himself off when Sig answered the other line.

"Sorry about that." He said with a smile, "Ike wanted to see the old throne room before he went to bed. We were beginning to wonder if you would call before he fell asleep. He's practically asleep on his feet."

"Hey, Sig" Keira said smiling. Her smile got broader as an exhausted Ike was lifted up to see them on the screen, "Hey Ike. How are you?"

Ike yawned before answering "Hi Mommy, hi Dad!"

"Hey Ike." Jak said "were you good for Uncle Sig today?"

"Yes" Ike replied.

"He has been perfect all day, Jak" Sig replied, "You don't have to worry about a thing."

"That's good." Jak replied.

"You look really tired, Ike, Did you have lots of fun with Uncle Sig?" Keira asked.

Ike just nodded in reply as he leaned his head against Sig's shoulder; he was drifting off to sleep. Keira and Jak laughed "Well say goodnight now, Ike. We love you."

"G'night Mommy. G'night Dad." Ike replied sleepily.

"Bye, Sig. We'll see you later." Jak said reaching to end the call.

"Bye Ike! Bye Sig!" Keira called right before the transmission ended. "See I told you they would be alright." She said turning to Jak. Jak just laughed and pulled her into a one armed hug.

"How are your feet? Come on I'll give you a foot rub." He whispered in her ear.

"Foot massage sounds nice." Keira said quietly resting her head against Jak's shoulder. "I'm so tired lately, it's kind of annoying."

Jak walked Keira into the living room that was part of their bedroom suite. He knocked some of Ike's toys and books onto the floor off of the couch and Keira sat down with a sigh. Jak sat down on the other end of the couch and pulled Keira's feet onto his lap. He gently took her shoes off and started massaging her soles.

Keira leaned her head back against a pillow and closed her eyes sighing contently. There was a warm glow coming from the fire in the fire place and it warmed the room up comfortably. After spending a good time on each foot Jak moved up to massaging Keira's shoulders. He absently stared at her long pony tail she had pulled her hair back in. "Are you ever going to cut your hair short again?" he asked.

"I might," Keira replied sleepily "I just got so wrapped up in Ike after he was born that I kinda forgot about my hair. It was much easier to take care of when it was shorter. And with Ike and the new baby I know having long hair will just get in the way." She trailed off and her body shook with a huge yawn. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against Jak's chest. Jak continued to rub her shoulders and they sat there in silence for a few minutes. After a while he started rubbing the rest of her back and quietly started humming. Keira opened a sleepy eye and mumbled "Is that our song? From our wedding?"

"Yeah," Jak replied, "Remember we adapted one of the old Sandover songs."

"Yeah, I remember now. But I can't think of the words for the life of me."

"Neither can I, but I'll never forget the tune. It was my favorite to think of back in Sandover."

"Yeah…" Keira yawned again and started humming along with Jak. She soon fell off and drifted to sleep. Jak kept massaging her back for a while; he was lost in memories of his life in Sandover. The fire had turned into smoldering embers before he snapped back to reality when Keira gave a small snore from her head falling onto her arm and squashing her face.

"Keira?" Jak said quietly and shook her shoulder gently, but she was asleep like a rock. Jak paused for a moment and stood up, and then he picked up Keira. He almost dropped her back on the couch but held her up with a small "oof" she was heavier than she looked. Jak carried her bridal style into their room and laid her gently on her side of the bed. Jak pulled the blanket over her and got ready for bed. He crawled into bed and snuggled up next to Keira. He wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep.

Warm sunlight played across Jak's face as he lay back basking in the warmth. Slowly he opened his eyes. He stared up at the palm tree for a moment before it hit him. Panicking he sat up and looked around. He was back in Sandover.

"Jak! HEY JAK!" a voice called out to him, a very young and very human Daxter ran up to him. "Come on, stop lying around! Samos said he would watch us while we went swimming, and Keira's coming too! It'll be more fun! Come on!" Daxter pulled on his hand and Jak stood up and gazed around with his mouth open. Daxter looked about eight or nine. "Why are you standing there looking like that? You're going to catch whumpbees (did I spell that right?) with your mouth hanging open. The last thing you want is to be stung the day before your birthday. Now Come on!" Daxter ran off towards Samos' hut and Jak smiled and followed him. He stopped for a moment at the rain barrel outside him uncle's house and peered in, he was a little kid again, about nine he thought. Smiling Jak raced past Daxter up to Samo's hut. He stopped and waited to Daxter to catch up, the sculptor's muse jumped off the roof of the hut onto Jak's shoulders and Jak scratched her ears before she darted away again.

Daxter caught up panting "No… fair… you have longer legs than I do." He smiled. Then Keira came running out from the hut and gave both Jak and Daxter a hug.

"Ready for some swimming?" she asked excitedly "Hurry, daddy!" she called over her shoulder and then turned to Jak and Daxter and grabbed both their hands "Come on, I already know the perfect place to go!" She dragged them along behind her and they raced to the large rock in the middle of the bay next to the farm. Breathless they clambered to the top and lay there on the soft grass for a minute before Keira stood up and proclaimed "Last one in is a hiphog!" and she ran herself over the edge and they heard a splash a few seconds later.

Jak and Daxter looked at each other for a moment before they both got up and ran for the edge. Jak was sure he was the first to enter the water and after sitting under for a moment he kicked to the surface. He shook the water from his eyes and looked around. Sandover was gone and he stood in the hall that connected his house to Keira's home garage. Confused Jak looked around, he faintly heard someone call for Ike from outside. He saw his son walking down the hallway and Jak followed him to his room. There Ike dug through his toy box until he found what he was looking for, a stuffed hiphog toy he affectionately called Stinky.

"Hey, Ike, what are you doing?" Jak asked, but Ike didn't hear him, or see him apparently because he walked right past Jak. Even more confused Jak followed Ike again. Ike took a different path to the garage this time and as he turned down the hall Jak looked ahead with fear to see a door left partially opened. "Ike, I think you should go a different way." Jak said, but his words fell on deaf ears. Jak heard the cries for Ike getting louder and more strained as Keira searched desperately for her son. He longed to call out to her and tell her where Ike was, but he knew she would not hear. Ike almost walked past the Eco Room, but something caught his eye and curiosity took over. He desperately tried to catch his son and stop him from going into the room, but Ike just walked through his arms like Jak wasn't there. Jak followed Ike with trepidation; he knew what was going to happen now. Jak walked in to see Ike staring around the room with wide eyes. Slowly he walked over to the case that held the Dark Eco. " _Why are the walls of the vat so damn low?"_ Jak wondered to himself angrily and answered himself just as furiously _"Because when you built them you didn't account malfunctioning doors and curious toddlers into the designs."_

Ike had reached the Dark Eco and he was desperately trying to reach over and touch it, but he was too short. Jak felt a moment of relief he thought Ike would give up, but the relief evaporated as Ike stared at Stinky and then set the toy down and stood on him. With Stinky, Ike had just enough height to reach his hand over the edge. Jak watched in horror and at the exact moment Ike's hand came in contact with the Eco Keira came in the room and screamed "IKE NO!" She rushed through Jak over to Ike and began to wail and cradle her unconscious son to herself.

Jak woke with a start and sat up, breathing hard.

"Jak? What's wrong" Keira mumbled sleepily.

"N-nothing…" Jak gasped "Just a bad dream."

Keira sat up and wrapped her arm around Jak "You're shaking, and you're soaked in sweat. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah" Jak replied shakily "Just just give me a minute." He felt cold and clammy and a little sick to his stomach, but that passed after he took some deep breaths. He heard Keira mumble something about peeing as she heaved herself out of bed and shuffled across the room into their bathroom. After peeing she opened the medicine cabinet to get something for her sudden, pounding headache. Suddenly her vision started swimming and she felt unbalanced. She reached out to grab something to hold herself up and that was the last thing she remembered.

CRASH! Jak's head shot up as he heard something fall in the bathroom, he quickly got up and walked over to the door. "Keira? Are you okay?" he knocked lightly on the door "Keira?" he asked again anxiously when he didn't get a reply. He opened the door. Glass was all over the place and Keira was crumpled in the middle of the floor surrounded by shards of the now broken mirror. She had a bunch of small cuts and was bleeding; some blood was starting to pool by her head from a cut on her forehead.

"Oh God, Keira!" Jak said as he ran to her, ignoring the glass shards he stepped on. He lifted her up with one arm and channeled some Light Eco to her to heal her cuts. "Keira" he said earnestly "Come on Keira, wake up." He said laying his hand on her forehead; she was the cold and clammy one now.

"Jak…" she mumbled weakly.

"I'm here Keira." He said gently "Stay with me Keira, we'll get you help."

"Don't feel so good…" she said weakly before she vomited on the floor and passed out again.

"Shit!" Jak swore as he lifted Keira up and then set her on the bed for a moment while he rushed to grab his shoes and his jacket. "Vin?!" he called out hoping his cyber friend was watching the house security tonight.

"What is it?" Vin's voice called from the monitor in the corner of the room.

"Contact the hospital. Tell them we're on our way so they're prepared for us. Keira's sick." Jak said rushing around the room. He picked Keira up again and carried her out of the house. Jak was debating a single-seated, but fast zoomer or one with more seats. He chose the closest one which happened to be a two-seater and raced out of the garage into the night. To his dismay, it was raining and the zoomer had an open cockpit, luckily he had thrown Keira's jacket over her before he ran out the door. Jak flew the zoomer recklessly fast and he was at the hospital in record time. He hurried to get Keira again and he carried her bridal style. Keira regained consciousness for a moment and vomited again, this time on Jak. He grimaced but walked through the doors to the ER carrying Keira.

The nurse at the front desk had a team ready to take Keira. To Jak's relief Dr. Grzyvinski was with them. Dr. Grzyvinski watched Jak come in the door and thought for a moment that if the situation hadn't been real life, but in a movie it might have been comical dramatic. Jak was soaked with rain and had vomit on him and he was carrying Keira bridal style through the ER doors looking very much like some big drama hero. She shook these thoughts from her head and focused on Keira. Jak laid her on the gurney they had and she was wheeled off to one of the trauma rooms, Jak followed and nobody dared turn him away.

"Doctor, she had a minor concussion."

"She's also lost some blood, but she's not bleeding anywhere and I don't pick up any internal bleeding."

"Doctor, she's gone into labor and they're both breached. We need to get her to high intensive maternity. She'll be in better hands there."

"Will she need a Cesarean?"

"Yes Doctor We need to act quickly before it's too late."

"Send them a message that an emergency Cesarean is coming and will be there in five minutes. Get her over there!" Dr. Grzyvinski said. She watched as they wheeled the still unconscious Keira out of the trauma room and turned to Jak. "We're moving her to the maternity ward Jak, She'll be in better hands there, don't worry everything will be fine. Now hurry so you don't miss her!"

Jak nodded and uttered a hurried "thanks" and ran out of the room following his wife. In the middle of the trip Keira regained consciousness and she grasped Jak's hand panicked.

"Don't worry, Keira" Jak said to her, "They're going to take care of you." Keira nodded and gazed silently at the ceiling while the other doctors and nurses checked her status. They reached the Cesarean OR and Keira was passed into the capable hands of the nurses who would prep Keira for the surgery.

"Jak?" she said weakly and panicked.

"Don't worry, "Jak squeezed her hand gently and kissed her cheek, "They're going to take care of you, it'll all be over soon. I love you."

"Love you too…" She replied weakly. She gripped Jak's hand tighter as they started to push her bed into the prep room. Jak held on as long as he could but had to let go when he reached the door.

To Be Continued…


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 10. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

Now alone, Jak wasn't sure what to do. He wandered over to the family waiting area and took up pacing through the empty space. He had been pacing for ten agonizing minutes when the sound of an irritated old man reached his ears. Jak looked up and sure enough there came Samos looking amazingly grumpier than usual scolding a young nurse.

"I don't see why I can't see my daughter. Do you know who I am? I'm the Green-" he cut off as he saw Jak pacing anxiously "Jak, my boy!" he clomped over with his shoes made out of logs and the branch still in his hair. The little bird was nestled in his hair and sleeping deeply. "Jak you- uhh… you look like crap actually. What happened?" he stopped to stare at Jak.

Jak looked down at himself "Oh yeah" he was still wearing his rain soaked, vomited on jacket and everything else on his was still wet and a little mud was on his pants. "Well, long story short Keira and I took a ride in an opened top zoomer in the rain and then she threw up on me before they took her." He jerked his thumb in the general direction of the maternity OR.

"Eww" Samos said screwing his face up in disgust.

"Yeah, I suppose. I've been in worse." Jak shrugged. He started to take his jacket off when he remembered he was only wearing his pajamas, and he didn't sleep with a shirt on. He sighed and donned his jacket again, there were some things that even he couldn't get away with in a hospital, and sitting around half naked was one of them. Jak went into the bathroom and washed most of the vomit off with a damp paper towel. He returned to the waiting room to find Samos had taken his place pacing. Jak sunk into one of the chairs suddenly exhausted, his thoughts raced through his head at a dizzying speed " _I hope Keira's fine. How long can a cesarean possibly take? Was the baby born yet? Do I have a new son or a new daughter? What if something goes wrong?"_ Jak shuddered to think of losing either Keira or the baby he forced himself to focus on something else. His thoughts turned to his dreams; they weren't just any normal dreams. Jak distinctly remembered the day the first half of his dream took place. That was the day before his ninth birthday; he spent those two days in joyful bliss until in the evening he disturbed a whumpbee's nest on a dare from Daxter and then he spent the next two weeks bedridden with a nasty fever, sore and swollen from the stings. At least Keira and Daxter kept him company. Jak smiled a little remembering how much Samos yelled at Daxter and the funny shade of purple he turned. Then Jak's thoughts turned to the second half of his dream. Jak was perplexed; he had a vague idea what he had seen. Actually, as he thought about it more " _I know exactly what I saw"_ he thought to himself. Jak had painted himself a pretty good picture of what had happened without looking at Vin's footage of what had happened. That day had already been painful enough for him, he did not want to relive it, but now that day was haunting him in his dreams. Jak rubbed his eyes and thought groggily " _why does everything have to happen at 4am?" he glanced up at the clock "5 am, whatever, it's still an ungodly hour_ "

"Do you think we should call the others? Tell them what happened?" Samos asked breaking Jak out of his reverie.

"Huh? Oh no. I think we should wait. Wait and see how Keira is, and the baby. Let them sleep a little longer." Jak said. He saw Samos was fiddling with his communicator "Put it away, Samos." He yawned and glanced up at the clock. He had only been waiting for twenty minutes. It felt like two hours!

Samos gave an irritated sigh and put the communicator and drummed his fingers on the arm rest of his chair before deciding to pass time meditating. Jak sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. He stared at the ceiling and thought about resorting to counting ceiling tiles to keep his mind from wandering to the dark possibilities of things that might go wrong. With another sigh he started slowly counting. He got up to 42 before he heard footsteps echoing down the empty silent hall.

A nurse stood in the entrance to the waiting area beaming "Would you like to come see your new daughters?"

Jak stood up quickly "Sure. Wait… you said 'daughters' as in more than one?"

The nurse smiled even wider "That's right. Congratulation's Mar, you are the father of the first twins born in Haven City for twenty-seven years. You have two beautiful and healthy daughters."

He though back and dimly remembered the doctors referring to their baby as them a few times _I guess I was too preoccupied with other things to notice._ It took a moment for the news to sink in and for it to register in Jak's brain, but he got it. To say Jak was excited would have been an understatement, he was elated. He turned to Samos and saw the sage was still meditating. Jak rolled his eyes and thought _I swear the man would meditate through anything._ He remembered back during the Metal Head War when Jak had to protect the younger Samos and the guy still did his thing while under heavy fire from the KG _Yeah… he would_. "Samos! Samos!" Jak shook his shoulder.

"What? What is it, Jak?" He said opening a reluctant eye "You interrupted my meditation."

"Twins!" Jak said too excited to contain it "Keira had twins! Come on!"

The sage was so shocked he actually fell out of his meditation hovering "T-t-twins!?" he choked out as she stood up "She had twins?"

The nurse was trying to contain her laughter and managed to choke out "Follow me and you can see them. They're still stitching Keira up but you should be able to see her soon."

Grinning like a kid who had just been given the best gift in the world, Jak followed the nurse to the nursery. There, sitting in two adjacent bassinets were his daughters. Their skin was all wrinkly, red and blotchy and they had goop on their eyes and their faces were screwed up in protest of leaving their warm home, but to Jak those two babies were the most beautiful babies ever born.

Samos peered through the glass at his granddaughters and he let out a tender "Aww" and his usually hard eyes softened. He looked up to say something to Jak, but Jak had leaned his forehead against the window and was staring at his daughters with a content smile. Jak drank in his daughters like a man dying of thirst. He loved everything about them, the little pink knit caps on their head, their tiny grasping fingers, the creases of their eyes which were shut tight, Jak loved them. It was love at first sight and somewhere in the back of his mind Jak knew he would die for them, just like he would die to protect Ike and Keira.

The doctor came up behind Jak and he cleared his throat to get Jak's attention. "Congratulations, they are healthy and beautiful babies. Keira is just fine. She's asking to see you now. If you will follow me, I'll take you to her."

Jak followed the doctor into a small room where Keira was laying on the bed propped up with a bunch of pillows. Her hair was a tangled mess and it was plastered to her face in some places. Her face was flushed and there were small cuts from the mirror.

"Hey beautiful." Jak said as he sat next to her on the bed and kissed her gently "How are you feeling?"

Keira screwed up her face "Eww. Jak, I look like shit. Even you don't have to say I'm beautiful." She laughed weakly "Well, besides not being able to feel my legs yet and the drugs making everything a little trippy, I guess I'm okay."

Jak shot a panicked look at the doctor when Keira mentioned her legs "It's just from the epidural. She's not paralyzed" the doctor assures Jak.

Keira leaned against Jak and sighed "Ohhh, I'm exhausted. Eww ,Jak, what's all over your jacket?" She picked her head up and stared at his jacket.

"Hmmm? Oh, you kind of threw up all over me. I don't think you were exactly with it then."

"Jaaaak, gross. Why didn't you go home and change?"

"Well I wasn't going to leave you here without knowing how you were doing was I? Now what kind of husband would I be then?"

Keira leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes "Well I suppose. But go home and change clothes. I'll be fine here. I'm just so…" She yawned "… so tired… I think I'm going to sleep now."

"I'll stay here with you" Jak said quietly.

Keira opened a sleepy eye and poked him weakly "oh no. You are going to go home and clean up and put on some clothes. You better be clean when I wake up. Got that buster? As much as I enjoy seeing you walk around without a shirt on, most of the hospital probably doesn't appreciate it as much as I do. So go home and change… before… Pecker eats… all the bananas…" She closed her eye and quickly fell asleep. Jak tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her gently before getting up and walking out of the room. Samos was still by the nursery staring at his granddaughters with the same water smile he had on five minutes ago.

"Hey, Samos. I'm going to run home and clean up. I'll probably contact the others too. Ike will be excited." Jak smiled as he imagined his son's reaction so see not one new sibling, but two. "Go see Keira if you want, but she's sleeping right now." Jak pated the sage on his shoulder.

Jak waited until he was a safe distance from the hospital and he took a quick glance around the street, but it was still barely dawn and the streets were empty. With a great yell he launched himself into the air and soared around the buildings in his light form.i _Oh, Precursors. I forgot how good it felt to fly like this!/i_ Jak thought to himself, grinning like an idiot and laughing out loud. Jak let out all his pent up excitement in the air while he flew all the way to New Palace. Jak relished the cold winter air rushing against his face; he did a few mid-air flips before he perched on the roof of New Palace. Hanging onto an antenna Jak let out the most jubilant yell he could muster. Words could not convey his joy. Breathless Jak jumped off of the roof and glided back down to earth. He landed in the front lawn of his home. He took a moment to compose himself before he walked through the massive front door.

"What happened? Is Keira okay?" Vin's voice greeted Jak. Jak noticed that he seemed more stressed than normal and he put on a sober face before he walked over to a monitor to face Vin.

"That's not a good face… Jak what happened?!"

"Vin, don't you have access to the hospital's video files?" Jak asked seriously.

"N-n-no! I have only taken the time to set up access to their communication system. Jak…. W-w-what happened? Is Keira alright?" The projection of Vin looked close to tears.

Jak broke into a huge grin "Keira's fine, and so are my daughters."

"Don't do that! You know how paranoid I am! Wait a minute … Daughters? As in more than one? How many? Since when? Jak! Do you know how RARE twins are? There hasn't been a set of twins born in Haven in… twenty-seven years, four months and twelve days!"

"I know! Oh Vin, I wish you could see them. They're beautiful." Jak sighed happily. "Hey, can you do me a favor? While I'm cleaning up will you get the message out to the others? Don't tell them about the twins; just tell them to be at the hospital by… 7. Oh especially don't tell Ike or Sig. I want it to be a surprise for Ike. Will you do that for me?"

"Sure I can."Vin replied. Jak nodded happily and turned and practically skipped to his room.

Jak showered, in record time, shaved, changed clothes and packed a few things for Keira. He had forgotten about the broken mirror and Keira vomit on the bathroom floor but he pushed them aside with a towel. He would get someone to clean it up later. Jak was running down the hall way and he was too excited to notice he ran into one of the house keepers.

"Oh! My Lord." The maid lowered her eyes respectfully "Forgive me, I wasn't watching where I was going"

Jak righted her and smiled "Don't worry about it. It's no big deal. Um, there's a bit of broken glass on the bathroom floor, you might want to be careful while you're cleaning that up." He started walking backwards down the hall way.

"Uh ... well ... I was just coming to to wake you and Madam Keira up… err…" She dropped off uncertainly "Uh what would you like for breakf—

"Don't worry about breakfast! We won't need it. Probably won't need dinner either." Jak called over his shoulder "or lunch!" he ran down the hallway and left the flustered maid standing there.

To Be Continued...


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 11. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

Everyone was crammed into the small hospital room. Keira was in bed holding the baby with fine white-blond hair and beautiful blue eyes. Samos was holding the baby with thick emerald green hair and startling violet eyes. Jak was holding Ike around the waist as he stood on the bed railing and leaned over as far as he could to look at his sister in his mother's arms. Tess was standing on Keira's other side leaning on her arm to get a better look at the baby. Every once in a while she let out a soft "awww" and she kept shooting looks at Daxter. Daxter was sitting on Jak's shoulder leaning against Jak's head casually. Torn and Ashelin were standing behind Samos by the window and Sig was standing by the door.

"So what have you named them?" Ashelin asked as she held her arms out for the baby in Samos' arms, he handed her over reluctantly. Keira looked up and saw a shadow of longing pass over Ashelin's face as the Guard commander blinked rather rapidly for a few seconds.

"Well … we're not sure." Jak said uncertainly "We only had one name picked out for a girl and now that we have two, we have to think of a name quickly." He glanced at Keira and she smiled back at him.

"I still love Diana. I always have. It's my favorite name." she said softly.

"And which one is Diana?" Ashelin asked as she cradled the green haired baby closer to her.

"The doctors said the baby with green hair was technically born first. I think she should be Diana."

"What about the other one?" Tess asked "I always thought Malena was a beautiful name."

"Malena …" Jak said slowly. "Malena. Malena. It suits her." Tess beamed and turned her gaze back to Malena.

"And what about their middle names?" Sig asked "here let me see Diana" he held his arms out. Ashelin passed Diana onto Sig even more reluctantly that Samos did. The baby was so tiny compared to the Wastelander he could almost hold her perfectly in his two hands. "Well, look at those eyes … she's got purple eyes just like Damas."

"Well, I'm not giving my daughter Damas as a middle name." Keira said.

"Besides" Jak added "Damas is Ike's middle name.

"Yeah but what if we name her after Jak's mother?" Torn spoke up.

"And Malena can be names after Keira's mother" Daxter added, feeling left out having been quiet for far too long.

"Grace was your mother's name, Jak" Sig said.

"Queen Grace; as beautiful as her name. I saw her once before she died. She visited the barracks while I was still in basic training." Torn said reminiscing. Sig and Ashelin nodded in agreement.

"Diana Grace. Jak, that's beautiful! It's perfect for her." Keira gazed down at her daughter in her arms. "Diana Grace Mar." She smiled as she said that. She handed Diana to Samos and held her arms out for Malena. "And you my beauty, what will your middle name be?" She looked up at her father. "Daddy, what was my mother's name? You've never mentioned it before."

Samos looked up guiltily. "I know, and I probably should have told you a thousand times before but I never did. Her name was Jade."

"Jade … Malena Jade." Keira tested it out.

"I like it, mommy." Ike said with a little confirmative nod "It's pretty."

Jak smiled and Keira looked up at her son "Yes, it is beautiful."

Jak set Ike down on the floor and looked around the room and held his arms out "Alright. You have all held my daughters. Now it's my turn, I haven't been able to hold one yet." Everyone laughed and Samos handed Diana to Jak.

"Can I hold Malena, Keira?" Ashelin asked holding her arms out again.

Keira laughed. "Sure here you go." Besides, I need my hands free." She gestured to the door "my breakfast is here. And I don't know about you guys but I haven't eaten anything in about twelve hours and I'm starving."

Two nurses squeezed into the room. One was holding a covered tray which she hooked to the railing of the bed next to Keira. The other one was carrying two heavy pieces of paper and a pen. "Birth certificates." She said quickly "Have you decided on names yet?"

"Yes" Keira and Jak answered together.

"Alright we'll start with the first born. Female, green hair, violet eyes, five pounds six ounces."

"Diana Grace Mar" Jak said.

"Very beautiful name" the nurse said as she wrote it down on the certificate. "And the other? Female, white-blond hair, blue eyes, 5 pounds three ounces."

"Malena Jade Mar." Keira said. She spelled out the name for the nurse.

"That's beautiful too." The nurse wrote the name down "Alright, now I need the signatures of the father and mother." Jak and Keira signed the forms. "And the doctors in the delivery room signed as witnesses, seeing as it was an emergency cesarean." She smiled and looked around the room "they're very beautiful and healthy babies. I don't expect them to be any trouble, but call us if you need us."

"Mmhmm." Jak said as he turned back to Diana who was placed in his arms again. The nurse laughed to herself and left the room. She stopped in the doorway and turned and called over her shoulder into the room. "I almost forgot. They will come and take a picture for the birth announcement and the hospital records later this afternoon."

"Okay. Thanks!" Keira called.

"Bye-bye!" Ike said waving at the nurse before he turned to him mom's tray of food. "Mommy can I have you juice?"

Keira laughed "What? You mean you didn't get enough hospital food when you were here last time?"

"Nope"

Everyone laughed. "Here Ike, I'll go get you some juice. Want to come with me?" Sig held out his hand.

"Yeah!" Ike climbed off of the bed and ran to Sig.

Daxter laughed "I don't think I've seen anyone get that excited about hospital food. Ever."

Keira had spooned up some oatmeal and looked at it apprehensively before taking a bite.

"How is it?" Daxter asked feigning awe.

"Not that bad. I've had better, and I've definitely had worse. Remember back in Sandover when the crazy old Bird Lady tried to make lunch for us?"

Jak grimaced and Daxter made a noise of disgust. They remembered that day. It was the worst food ever but they all ate every bite because they didn't want to be rude, and Jak's uncle seemed to be enjoying it so they had to grin and bear it.

"Well it's about a hundred times better than that." Keira laughed.

Jak and Keira stepped out of the hospital with Malena and Diana bundled up against the cold. "Don't forget Dax wants us all over at the Ottsel by six tonight" Jak said before he kissed Keira gently on the cheek. The strapped the twins into the back of a waiting car securely and Jak climbed into the driver seat. He set off slowly traveling carefully over the smooth roads.

"We can go to the Ottsel later, but first things first. I'm getting a haircut and some real food."

Jak laughed and Keira looked back at their daughters. Diana was sleeping in her chair, but Malena was wide awake. Her eyes were wide open and they were staring intently at the ceiling of the car. Keira looked closely for any quivering of her lips and strained her ears for a soft whimper, but she didn't hear anything.

"How long do you think until Malena get's her voice?" She asked softly. As perfect as her daughters were, Malena seemed to take after Keira in every way, she had her eyes, and her face, but her hair was different and she was born virtually mute. She could make noises, but she didn't cry. Another thing about her Keira noticed was that she only seemed to need feeding, changing, or attention when Diana needed something. She only made the quietest whimpers when she wanted something. Malena relied on Diana to be her voice. The doctor's couldn't explain why Malena was mute. There was nothing wrong with her vocal chords. Keira and Jak decided that she was taking after Jak in being mute.

"I don't know" Jak said softly. "It took me sixteen years before I could utter a word, I tried and tried, but … I had to be traumatized before I found my voice. I got my voice while the Baron had me."

"Oh … yeah …" Keira whispered.

"I'm not going to lie, Keira, I would rather Malena be mute for life if the only way for her to find her voice is to be traumatized like I was. " Jak's hands gripped the steering wheel tighter until his knuckles turned white. Keira realized the dangerous sign and offered another option.

"Maybe she only needs to grow out of it. You probably grew out of it, it was just at a bad time in your life …" She dropped off.

Jak snorted disbelievingly "Yeah, maybe I just grew out of it. Sure whatever you want to believe Keira." Keira bit back her retort. Jak had a dangerous look on his face that resurfaced when he thought about his time in prison. He looked like he did when he was seventeen hell bent on revenge and Keira had hardly recognized him. That side of Jak scared her, but she would never tell anyone that. She had to be brave for Jak, and for her children. She had to make sure her children would never know that side of her father.

She placed a hand on his arm gently and whispered "Jak, I love you with all my being, but that time is over now. Put it behind you. We need to get the babies home safely."

Jak closed his eyes for a second and glanced behind his quickly. His face softened. "I'm sorry Keira. I love you too. The bad memories just have a habit of resurfacing at the worst times."

"It's alright, love." She leaned over and kissed his cheek "Now try driving us home." She smiled and to her delight Jak's mouth curved up in a small smile.

**CITY LEADER'S FAMILY GROWING**

(Below the title there was a large picture of Jak, Keira, Ike, Diana, and Malena all beaming at the camera. Ike was standing behind Jak on the back of his chair and Jak was holding Diana while Keira held Malena)

Early Thursday morning two new lives were welcomed into the world. The city's leader Lord Mar and his wife Lady Mar welcomed into their family not one, but two daughters. The Mars are the first family recorded to have twins in over twenty years. The parents were elated with the birth of their daughters. Two beautiful healthy girls christened Diana Grace and Malena Jade. Close friends of the family are overjoyed. "The twins aren't identical. Diana has beautiful emerald green hair and Malena has the lightest blond hair you've ever seen, it's just beautiful. They're both beautiful girls." Says Daxter, Mar's loyal companion and friend since they were children "And Ike is excited to have not one, but two new siblings" (Ike is Mar's first born son)

The news of the new arrivals has seemed to put almost everyone in New Haven and Spargus in lifted moods. The citizens of both cities wish to congratulate the Mars and wish them luck.

_Not all are happy. What do they have to say? See Pg.4_

Copies of the article were covering the walls of the Naughty Ottsel. A blown up image of the photo from the article was covering up most of the mirror and a large banner hung across the ceiling bearing the legend "CONGRATS JAK AND KEIRA!"

"Geez, Dax." Jak said looking around while holding a slightly scared Diana close to him to comfort her "Did you cut out that article from every paper in town?"

"He tried." Tess said walking across the bar and wrapping her arms around Daxter "I stopped him when he hit one hundred though. He was originally going to just have copies of the paper for people to pick up and read and what not, but then he read that other article and started cutting out the good one and burning the rest. They thought we had caught the bar on fire." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah well I didn't like what those idiots were saying about Jak here. You didn't get a chance to read it yet, did you?"

"Nah, we were so busy getting the twins settled into the nursery and calming Ike down enough to let them be alone so Keira could feed them and then put them down for a nap before she got her hair done and stuff. Didn't have time to read the whole paper. What have they been saying?"

"Just carrying on what Errol and Veger were going after all those years ago about you being dangerous and all that shi- oop" Tess clamped her hand over his mouth.

"Watch it!" She hissed, "There are small ears around." Daxter shot her an apologetic look and Tess removed her hand. "Well now they're saying that you probably passed your dangerous genes onto your children."

"So basically the same stuff they said when Ike was born. The same things they tried to say to turn the city against me when I took the throne. Same old, same old."

"Basically" Daxter said sitting down "Well nobody believes the loonies, except themselves. So you're good. As long as the city doesn't learn about … ummm…" he glanced at Tess, who didn't know the circumstances in which Ike made it out of his Dark Eco poisoning alive "well you know."

Tess sighed and stood up "Oh I see how it is. I'll just walk away so you boys can have your "special chat time" don't mind me or bother telling me anything." She stalked off to the other end of the bar and started serving up drinks for people.

"As long as the public doesn't learn Ike can channel dark eco and he's like me in some ways I'm still good in the public's eye." Jak said turning his head away from Tess. He wouldn't put it past her to know how to read lips and be watching them now.

"Yeah, pretty much." Daxter said he looked over his shoulder to Tess. "I better go help her out or she'll make me sleep outside tonight, and it's supposed to get cold enough to snow again. Hey, I haven't told Tess what saved Ike, have you told Keira?"

"I still haven't. I didn't want to put any extra stress on her before the babies were born, and now they are born I don't think she needs any extra stress either. I don't know when I'm going to tell her."

"Well don't put it off too long, pal. You know Keira as well as I do, she hates to be kept in the dark. You've heard Torn tell tales about what she did to become a member of the Underground."

Jak leaned against the bar "I know. I'll tell her when the time is right." He paused and took a drink "She still talks about her little escapade in the Wastelands, when she tried to save Torn's life and ended up almost getting herself, Torn, and the Kid killed." (*see author's note at the end)  
He took another drink "Sometimes I wonder what had happened to her before she found the Underground that had changed her from the docile mechanic from Sandover to the strong woman she is now …."

Daxter shrugged "You've got me there."

Jak smiled to himself as he turned to look as his daughter "Yeah, but I wouldn't trade Keira for the world."

Daxter patted Jak on the arm. "Don't get too sappy, buddy, there will be plenty of time for that. Now you've got to play the proud father role. If a picture gets out with you and that sappy, croc-pup face nobody will take you seriously."

Jak smacked Daxter on the back of his head. "Go and help Tess you idiot, before she decides to give you over to Kleiver. I heard Veger didn't make as big of a hat as he needed."

"Ha ha ha. Very funny" Daxter said cooly, he cast another glance to Tess who was throwing dangerous looks in Daxter's direction as she hurried around to get more things set out "But… yeeeaaah… I better go help Tess." Daxter hurried over to his wife who immediately pushed a large bag of chips into his hands and ordered him to go around and refill the bowls.

Jak watched silently chuckling to himself as he cradled Diana closer to him. The newborn yawned and rubbed her eyes, her little fingernail leaving the lightest pink line on her cheek. Jak brushed a green lock of hair from her forehead and he glanced around the room to see where Keira had gotten off to. He spied her across the room handing Malena to Ashelin. Ike was sitting in a nearby booth with Torn stand on the seat to peer into Torn's glass. "What's that Uncle Torn?" Jak heard him ask, "Can I have a drink? Does it taste good?" The three year old reached out for the glass but Torn pulled it away quickly. Jak was distracted from hearing Torn's explanation to Ike about why he couldn't drink his beer when a large arm wrapped around his shoulder.

"Nice Party, huh?" Sig said cheerfully.

"Yeah" Jak said absently, he was watching Keira again, she was still talking to Ashelin and her face was etched with sympathy and sorrow. Jak wondered what they were conversing about so intently. His thoughts were interrupted by an irritated Samos who was subsequently followed by a jabbering Pecker.

"Here let me take Diana" Sig said holding out his arms. "I haven't seen the little mite since her birthday."

Jak passed Diana to Sig gently and turned to grab a drink from a passing waitress when a figure in the doorway caught his eye. He could tell she was a woman from her generous curves and her long hair was piled elaborately on top of her head, but Jak couldn't see her face or any features from a shadow cast over her body. The woman took a step into the bar.

"What the hell is she doing here?"

Keira gratefully passed a sleeping Malena to Ashelin as she took a sip of her water.

"Oh, she's so precious…" Ashelin cooed tickling the infant on her chin. The baby opened her eyes and stared at Ashelin with her beautiful blue eyes that seemed to hold infinite knowledge but also hungered to learn more. A wave of sorrow washed over the soldier and her smile faltered only a little. Keira saw the change in Ashelin though and saw her smile fade for a fraction of a second before coming back full blast.

"Ashe…" Keira started fiddling with her straw. She knew this was really none of her business, but she couldn't ignore the pained look that crossed Ashelin's face every time she held her daughters. "I know you love kids so much. And you absolutely adore Ike and the twins …" she dropped off to see her friend's reaction.

Ashelin looked up, no longer smiling, but still holding Malena carefully; sorrow reflected in her eyes. "Yeah …" she said simply before turning her gaze back to those perfect blue eyes. She knew what was coming and she was steadying herself in those endless blue eyes so she wouldn't have a break down.

"… Tell me if I go too far Ashe, I know it's none of my business, but … why … why haven't you and Torn had any kids yet?" Keira blurted out the last part. She felt that is she said it fast enough it wouldn't seem too rude or prying, or even painful.

Ashelin smiled weakly and she looked Keira in the eye before talking "Precursors know, we've tried, Keira. But it just isn't happening. At first we thought our timing was just off. So we tried some drugs, those didn't help either. We didn't know if it was me or him. We tried everything under the sun and finally. Something worked." Keira opened her mouth to congratulate Ashelin but the saw the pained expression had only gotten worse and she feared this tale was far from over "I miscarried the first baby on the third month, before I had started showing. That's why nobody knew. We tried again, but we lost the second baby too. We thought it was the fertility treatment, so we tried another one and that one worked. We prayed to the Precursors that the third time would be the charm … it wasn't. We lost that baby too. Eventually we just gave up Keira. The physical and emotional pain was too much for Torn to put me through. I was ready to try again until we succeeded …but Torn refused to let me go through with that again. So we decided to turn out attention to Ike, and you kids Keira. To spoil them and be their family. It's not the same as having our own child, no. But it helps fill the void." The ex-soldier felt her face get hot and her eyes sting but she controlled her emotions like she had learned to do when she was training to be in the Guard. She had to be a hard-ass bitch in front of all the guys or they would have never taken her seriously. She looked back into those blue eyes and they anchored her emotions back in place. Those blue eyes were her rock.

Keira was on the verge of tears "Ashelin… why didn't you tell anyone? That's horrible. Nobody should have to go through pain like that." Keira started forward and wrapped her arms around Ashelin.

The ex-soldier was surprised. She wasn't exactly the hug-y type, but it felt nice to have someone holding her as she worked to re-settle her emotions. "We did some research …" she started again quietly, barely above a whisper "We found out what had caused all our complications …" She took a deep breath "It was the tattoos. There was something in the ink that in high doses … damaged us." She said for lack of a better word. Her voice shook in anger. "These tattoos my father made me get from head to foot just so I would stand out as someone high ranking in the KG. He didn't even bother to check the ingredients of the ink and check for adverse side effects. It was cheap and could be bought in mass quantities." She shook in anger for a moment before she gazed back down at Malena's eyes. They seemed to pull her into nothing but blue; a soothing, calming, soft blue. Ashelin closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths and she buried her emotions. They were a burden on her heart, but now that she had shared them, the old wounds hurt, but the burden seemed lessened. It was relieving.

Keira stood speechless, unconsciously chasing her straw around her glass with her finger. "Oh my God … Ashelin … I … I …" she was at a loss for words. Ashelin gently smiled and she cuddled Malena closer to her.

"It's alright, Keira. Don't let the past affect you. It's done and over with. Torn and I are coping just fine. And now" she tickled Malena on the chin "We have two nieces to spoil and teach all sorts of tricks." She smiled and cooed at the infant in her arms. "Don't feel bad Keira. It feels better now that I've shared with someone. I'm actually glad we talked. So don't go feeling guilty." She shifted Malena in her arms and freed a hand and placed it around Keira's shoulder and to the mechanic's great surprise. Ashelin gave Keira a hug.

Keira smiled and looked out to the rest of the party. There were a few people she recognized, but she hadn't gone to many social functions in the past year and a lot of names and faces were lost in the back of her mind and she couldn't remember them. Her eyes scanned past the door and they froze on the figure that had just stopped in the doorway of the bar. Her smile fell. The figure looked vaguely familiar, but like someone she hadn't seen in years. The person was definitely a woman, anyone could tell, and the way her hair was styled seemed disturbingly familiar. But Keira couldn't place her finger on where she had seen someone like that. The woman stepped farther into the bar.

"What the hell?"

* * *

Ok so about the little asterix (*) I stole some of a friend's plot (with her permission don't worry). The "Wasteland escapade" comes from Captain Hilt's Story "Rebels With a Cause: a Tale of the Underground" I HIGHLY suggest you my loyal readers go and check it out. She has some really great pieces. Some are serious and dramatic, and others are fun and silly. That and she's my favorite reviewer because she writes me lovely long novels of reviews which I cherish and secretly stash in my closer ... ok not really, that's just a little too creeperish. But really people, please check out her stuff.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, Chapter 12. It should go without saying that I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter characters. Dr. Lucie and all other OCs are my creations.
> 
> -Becks

Rayn walked confidently into the bar. Her gaze traveled around the bar until it fell on Jak and Sig. She lingered on the group for a moment until she was sure they had seen her. She smirked and haughtily walked the opposite direction towards a secluded booth on the wall away from most of the party goers. She grabbed a drink from a passing waitress before she gracefully sat in the booth. And she waited.

Keira walked over to Jak. She appeared calm on the outside but her eyes smoldered with curiosity and contempt. "What is _she_ doing here?" Keira demanded.

"I don't know." Jak replied "I haven't heard anything about her or seen her since she left the after party after the Grand Prix."

"If she thinks that she is going to spread her little crime family to Haven, she's got another thing coming" Ashelin spat vehemently glaring daggers at booth.

Rayn continued to sip her drink as her gaze traveled around the bar. She looked at everyone and everything except Jak and his group by the bar. She was baiting them.

Jak saw what she was doing. He sighed and downed the rest of his drink. "I'll go talk to her" he said reluctantly.

As he walked off towards Rayn's booth Daxter jumped up on the bar. "Where is he off to?"

"Our little Kras City princess decided to pay a visit." Ashelin replied bitterly.

"What?" Daxter spun around to see for himself. "What the heck is she doing here?"

"I don't know. But it can't be good." Ashelin replied crossing her arms angrily and continuing to glare at the booth.

"Ashelin, calm down; I doubt she's going to poison us this time. Give her a chance." Keira said.

Ashelin snorted and discretely checked her holster for her pistol.

Meanwhile…

Jak slid into the booth across from Rayn.

"Ah, Jak. It's nice to see you again." She said smiling falsely "This is a lively party what's the occasion?"

Jak silently picked up one of the many copies of the article off of the table and set it in front of Rayn.

She was quiet for a moment as she scanned the article. "Oh, twins. How precious. Give Keira my congratulations will you."

"What are you doing here Rayn?" Jak said showing no indication of offering Keira anything from the crime boss.

"What? We don't see each other for seven years and then I drop by for a visit and you act like I'm about to poison you again." She said acting insulted.

Jak looked back at her coolly not falling for her.

"Alright. Let's just cut to business then." Rayn said finishing her drink and leaning forward. "I want you to come back and race for me, Jak."

"You're joking right?" Jak said leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms across his chest.

"No I'm very serious. Combat racing has become almost boring. There hasn't been anything new, fresh, and exciting in years. All of Mizo's boys ran away after his fall, we managed to convince the best racers to join our team, but they became old news fast. It really went bad after Razer was killed."

"Razer's dead?"

"Oh yeah. About three years ago. It was his last race before he re-retired and he had an unfortunate 'accident'." Jak knew from her tone is was a purposeful accident." He shattered both of his legs. I was trying to convince him to stick around for another season or two but you can't race without legs. So he went into permanent retirement for a few weeks. He was on heavy pain medication and they think he overdosed while drinking. Of course during the autopsy they found a rather large tumor in his lungs, so we really don't know what killed him."

"What a shame." Jak replied neutrally "I always knew those cigarettes would get to him one day."

"Yes. I suppose so. But what do you say Jak? Come back for one more Grand Prix? I'll make sure it's extremely beneficial for you. I could even work it out so Haven was included again. Imagine how it would help economically, and it would liven up the city a little. Add a little variation to the city life." She crossed her legs under the table and brushed her foot against Jak's leg.

"Well the city is doing fine on its own economically. In case you have forgotten, we own the largest eco mine and the most eco refineries which happen to supply half the eco used by Kras each year. We're doing quite fine without the trouble brought with Combat Racing. The last thing we need is more crime." Jak said ignoring her prodding foot.

"Oh now come on Jak. Combat racing isn't _all_ crime." Rayn said moving her foot to caress Jak's leg.

"I don't think so Rayn." Jak said again.

"Jak what can I offer you to convince you to come and do one Grand Prix? Anything you want you can have. Think of it. You'll be like a returning hero. I've got young racers who tell me they want to race like you did. Jak, you're something completely different on the track. You're worshiped by the new racers. I remember when I was young people worshiped Blitz's father, and then they worshiped Blitz, then Razer. Nobody even thinks about them anymore. Everyone wants you, Jak. Think of the glory of returning to the track. Nobody will be able to touch you. You'll blow everyone out of the water and then to the moon. What do you say? One more season, for old time's sake." She said enticingly.

Jak was quiet for a moment. Rayn leaned back sure she had won. Jak thought over the possibility. There was a part of him who would have risen to the chance of racing again; a younger, more reckless part of him. _God listen to me, I'm already sounding like an old man and I'm not even thirty._ Then Jak heard Ike laugh from across the room. He turned his head slightly to look at this son sitting happily next to Torn watching Samos do "magic" with green eco. Then he looked back at Rayn, sitting across from him looking confident, almost smug. Jak hadn't realized how much he had changed in these past four years. Things that had seemed so important to him years ago now seem silly and pointless.

"No." he replied.

Rayn's confident smile faltered "No?" she said regaining her composure.

"You just don't get it, Rayn." Jak said "Look around you. What is everyone here celebrating? The birth of my daughters. Do you see that little boy across the room, with the blond and blue hair?" Jak pointed "That's my son. I have everything I could want here with me. You can't offer me anything that tops them. You're too late, Rayn. If you had asked me four years ago I probably would have said 'yes'. Now I have more important things to worry about than Combat Racing. I'm sorry you came so far out of your way for nothing." Jak slid out of the booth and stood up "Have a safe trip back to Kras. There's the door." Jak pointed to the door and walked away from the table.

Rayn's mind was in a flurry. She didn't say anything as Jak walked away. She just stared, her sharp eyes following him as he went back to Keira. She watched him as he gently held his daughter. Then she caught Ashelin's eye. The woman was staring at her, hard.

_If looks could kill._ Rayn thought lazily. She smoothly slid out of the booth and headed for the door giving the same aura of confidence as she had when she entered the bar. Jak had said no to a direct request, but she had other ways to get him to consider her offer. She walked out into the darkened Haven streets, and disappeared into the night.

"So? What did she want?" Keira asked anxiously when Jak returned.

"She was trying to convince me to race for her again." Jak said picking up Diana.

"And what did you say?" Keira demanded.

"I told her no. Did you really think I would have said yes? To go out there and risk my life when I would rather be here with you and the kids?"

"Yeah, well, I doubt that she's going to take no for an answer." Ashelin said turning back to the group. "The princess just left and she looked far from downtroden. I'd watch yourself, Jak. Who knows what kind of crap she'll use to try and convince you to change your mind."

"Don't worry. She's not going to convince me very easily." Jak said firmly.

"She better not!" Daxter spoke up "Oh if she tried anything … I'd like to convince her … "Daxter fumed "Remind me to not drink anything gifted to me, you never know what will be in it …."

"Calm down Dax. It was me she was after. I don't think she wants any of you guys back, just me."

"But why you?" Keira asked curiously "We all raced too and sometimes we were just as good as you."

"I know. That's the funny thing. We were a great team together, but she just wanted me. Something about all the new young racers wanting to race like me."

"Sounds like a load of Yak cow dung if you ask me." Sig said.

Suddenly Diana opened her mouth and cried softly. "She's probably hungry." Keira said holding her arms out. "I'll take her in the back and feed her. Then I'll come for Malena, she'll probably be awake and hungry in a few minutes."

"You don't have to go hide in the back, Keira." Daxter said "It's your party."

"That's okay, Dax. I'd rather not have everyone staring at me as I feed my daughter." She smiled as she walked through the door behind the bar.

"So…" Daxter began casually searching for a topic of conversation.

"Awww, let me see little Malena!" Tess suddenly exclaimed coming up from behind Daxter. She peered sappily at the sleeping infant "Oh she's just so precious!" she squealed. She walked over to Daxter and wrapped her arms around him "So cute, I want one." She murmured in Daxter's ear.

"Um, well… ahem Tessie. Baby, we can talk about that later." Daxter said uncertainly.

The friends just stood there for a few minutes. Sig held Malena gently as the infant woke up and started squirming.

"Oh look. They're almost out of little sandwiches on the buffet. I'll go get more." Tess said randomly jumping to a new subject.

"Hold on Tess." Daxter said grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her back "We have people hired to do that you know."

"Oh I know, but I just feel like doing something right now. I really don't mind." She said hopping off of the bar.

Daxter just stared after her confused. "Uh … okay then … whatever flies your zoomer."

Jak had to take a moment to compose himself after seeing Daxter's facial expression.

"You know, she's been a little off lately. I mean like her moods. She just swings from super happy and bubbly, to irritated, and anywhere in between. I wonder if it's something in the water …"

Jak had to look away to keep himself from laughing. He had seen this happen twice before.

"What do you think?" Daxter said turning to look at Jak and Sig.

"I couldn't tell you, Dax." Jak said innocently.

Daxter studied him. "You know something … You know what's up with Tess."

Jak shook his head trying to keep a neutral face. Next to him Sig cleared his throat and shifted Malena in his arms.

Daxter's eyes got wide "You don't think she's – No way! I didn't even think about that! TESS!" Daxter said leaping off of the bar to chase down his wife.

"So … what did I miss?" Keira said coming out of the back room with a happy Diana.

Jak and Sig shared a look and laughed. "It's more of a matter of what Daxter missed." Jak said between chuckles.

**The End.**


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